


our story goes on

by allfairytales



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Pregnancy, Time Babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-07
Updated: 2013-08-19
Packaged: 2017-11-24 01:06:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/628562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allfairytales/pseuds/allfairytales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Just a short little update in between hectic work hours. :)</p>
        </blockquote>





	1. One

“You know what they say; there’s always a first time for everything.”

“And a last time.” River Song concluded sadly as she watched her madman and his blue box disappear, leaving the sound of the breaks she hated so much clinging to the air. Slowly she closed the bars of her cell and leaned her head against the cool iron.

 _Home again_. If one could call this home. But then again she _had_ come to call it home after years of being locked up for a crime she hadn’t committed -a crime that her darling husband had made her live through twice now. Lies and spoilers began to snowball on top of themselves when she was whisked off to 1969 with her father, mother, and husband to research a religious order that had occupied the planet since the dawn of time. Of course she’d remembered who the mysterious little girl in the space suit was the moment she saw the Silence in an ancient underground tunnel. Only then had she known what they were up against.

They’d all escaped from the warehouse and the Doctor had decided the four of them should split up to research the Silence. Clever Doctor, sweet, daft Doctor. How was one supposed to research something you forget when you stop looking at it?

 _“You think you’re sooo clever, Madame Archaeologist. You need facts, and tools, and things for digging up other things. Time to get creative!”_ And then he had all but shoved her out of the TARDIS into 1969 New York City.

Lucky for her she’d had her Vortex Manipulator on her wrist. Like hell she was going to wait around for three months! She knew about as much as she could about the Silence, having spent her first two regenerations completely under their control. She would simply have to cheat a bit, and hop forward a few months.

Besides, if she had to live out three months linearly, there would be far too many questions to answer as her newest secret would begin to make itself known. Yes, best to jump ahead.

And speaking of jumping, thank goodness Canton had told the Doctor that she had jumped off the 50th floor. The Doctor had given the ex-FBI agent pellets that would put Amy, Rory, and River into a death-like state, and allow Canton to get them to Area 51. River knew she shouldn’t have those chemicals in her system, so she improvised a new plan. Besides that, no one shot River Song -even if the bullet was fake!

“Suppertime, Dr. Song.” A young guard River had never seen before was carrrying her dinner to her on a tray, interrupting her as she poured her memories into her diary. The utensils began to rattle as he got closer to her.

“You’re new.” Had she not been so tired she might have enjoyed trying to get a rise out of him -breaking in new guards was a favorite pastime of hers- but after her ordeal in America, her embarrassing goodbye with the Doctor, and the faint twinge of nausea that had returned, she couldn’t muster the energy.

“I’ve been here a week.” He was so very young, and seemed so very nervous.

“And they sent you to my cell already?" she tutted. "That's a bit quick for them; who did you annoy?" She chuckled. "Will we be seeing much of each other?”

“I not sure, ma’am. I just know I'm here for the evening.” 

“‘Ma’am’? You’re awfully polite.”

“Raised right by my mum, I suppose.” He gave her a timid smile and passed her food through the slot.

River set the tray down on her desk, pulled the lid off, and felt her throat close at the sight of sad overcooked carrots, chicken that looked dry and flavorless, a stale biscuit, and mushy apples with cinnamon for dessert. She replaced the lid and sat back down on her bed to continue writing.

“Don’t like the food?” The young boy’s voice startled her some time later -she hadn’t seen him sitting in the corner.

When the boy had undergone training for Stormcage, he'd been warned about River Song. He'd heard her history as a murderer and had a completely different image of her in his mind. When she jumped at his words, she seemed like such a regular person. Perhaps prison had broken her spirit.

Perhaps she was innocent like some people believed. “You don’t have to eat. I mean, there’s nothing else until morning, but I won’t tell.” He concluded quickly.

River suddenly felt a rumble of hunger, and decided to be more grateful and eat up. She avoided the shapeless carrots, but finished the rest.

She was getting ready to be escorted to the showers when she felt the nausea return with a vengeance. She didn’t hear the young boy’s concerned “Are you alright, Dr. Song?” when she lost control and was sick in the waste bin.

The young boy hurriedly opened the door to her cell and rushed over to River. “No, you’re not supposed to be in here.” She tried to swat him away as she sat back down on the floor.

For a moment his training kicked in; he realized he may have broken protocol and he cast a brief glance at the security camera on the wall, his gun hand giving an involuntary twitch. Then his mind cleared; he thought, even if she was a notorious killer who liked breaking out of her cell, she probably couldn't overpower him now. “I think I’m allowed to be in here if you need help. I shouldn’t have made you eat if you weren’t hungry, I’m sorry.” He picked up a glass from nightstand, filled in with fresh water from the jug, and handed it to her.

“You should probably wait outside.” she said as she took the glass and leaned her head back against the cool wall. The boy noticed the sheen of sweat on her forehead and reached into his pocket for his handkerchief.

“It’s clean. I’ll just, er, wait for you then.” 

“Thank you.” River ran a hand over her hair and tried to even her breathing out. She opened her eyes and saw the boy was no longer there. _Must have scared him off._

She shakily got to her feet and crossed the room to her cot, and sat back against the cool stone wall. Surprisingly, the boy returned shortly after with a cupful of ginger ale from the galley.

"You're very sweet." she slowly sipped it. "What's your name?"

"Harry, ma'am."

"I hope I haven't made too poor an impression on you, Harry." she said with a half hearted smile.

"No, ma'am, just a memorable one." he smiled at her.

"Well Harry dear, would you mind escorting me to the showers? I think I'm starting to feel better."

The hot water cascaded down her body, relaxing her and washing away all the sweat and grime from her latest adventure. She felt her muscles relaxing, and the pounding in her head lessening.

She hadn’t felt sick since she went into the tunnel beneath the warehouse in Florida. River knew she was in denial, and the way she and the Doctor had left each other didn’t make her want to acknowledge the issue at hand, but she knew time was closing in. As soon as she was clean, she began to think of a way to trick this poor boy so she could sneak away to see her parents.

Luckily Harry wasn’t scheduled to stay with her all night. Taking advantage of being alone at last, she pulled the Vortex Manipulator out of it's spot in her wardrobe. Next to the device lay the small item that was causing her distress; the stick had rattled her, and been constantly on her mind in America. She cast it one last look before typing in the coordinates and vanishing.

 ...

Amy liked to sit outside on warm nights and read a book, eat dinner with Rory, or share a glass (or three) of wine with River. The sound of the her daughter’s arrival was now as familiar as the sound of her raggedy man’s TARDIS.

“Hello River. How are you?”

“Okay -just got back from America. How about you?”

“I’m great. There was a buy one, get one on that white wine we loved. I've already had a glass, so you need to catch up.”

"Lovely." She offered half-heartedly as she sat down. "Mother, I have something rather important to tell you. Don't fill that glass just yet."

Amy let out an amused snort and set the bottle down before giving her full attention over to the other woman. "Okay, I'm listening. But if you're about to tell your old mum you're pregnant, or something, I'm going to need a refill." She smiled but the look in her daughter's eyes caused it to falter. River swallowed hard, picked up the bottle and poured Amy another glass. "River... are you...?"

River dropped her gaze to the table and nodded as Amy stared in shock. She let a hand fall on River’s, hoping to offer a bit of comfort as question after question fought for dominance in her mind. “How long have you known? What did the Doctor say when you found out?”

“Are you referring to a medical professional, or an idiot with a box? I haven’t spoken to either one, but I took a test a few weeks ago-”

“A few weeks ago?” she asked, dumbfounded. "You took a test a few weeks ago and you still haven't been seen to?”

“That's the pot calling the kettle black, Amy. I left for America right after taking it, and I’m in prison -I’ve been in prison for years- I was hoping it was a false positive, or something.” She ran her fingers through her hair, messing up her wild curls. “I can’t be pregnant.” It was the first time she said the word aloud and it felt strange.

Amy attempted to smooth some of River’s hair back into place. “When are you going to tell him? The idiot with the box, that is.”

“I’m not.”

“What? Not ever?”

“No. I don’t know.”

“Are you kidding? You can’t keep this a secret. You have to tell him!”

“Tell him what, exactly?” River looked Amy in the eyes now. “Tell him that a woman he doesn’t even love yet is pregnant with his child? I could risk rewriting my past and his future! Do you think he could even handle this?” Her recent encounter with an unsure and flailing Doctor had made her fear she would never again run into a version who was with her the night they created this child. She was feeling that she was fast approaching the day the day the Doctor would not know who River Song was. When that day came, she felt certain it would be her undoing.

“He needs to know. He'd love to know. He'll want to be here with you! Just use your wrist thingy and find him.”

River had no time to respond when they heard the patio door open, and Rory appeared, offering them an awkward wave. “Uh, hi. Just got back from the store. Staying for supper, River?” He looked from River wiping at a few escaped tears, to Amy who looked irritated. “Is everything okay?”

“Does everything look okay, Rory?” Amy asked shortly.

“No, but I just thought I’d ask to be polite.” He shut the door behind him and walked toward the pair of them. “What’s wrong?”

"Rory," Amy said, with an air of suppressed frustration, "River is pregnant."

Rory raised his eyebrows and looked to Amy, then back at River, “Uh... okay. How far along are you?”

River felt a wave of exhaustion roll over her, “I'm really not sure.”

"She took a test a few weeks ago. Before America." Amy added.

“Alright. Why don’t you two come inside? Amy, will you help me with the food? River, why don't you freshen up a little before we eat? We can talk about this when we’ve all taken a breath.” Both women nodded and followed Rory into the house.

After her initial shock, Amy was able to make sure River was fed and taken care of, and insisted that she spend the night. Rory told her he’d make sure a room was open at the hospital the next morning so they could check how everything was going.

River was changing into a pair of pajamas when she heard a soft knock at the door. “Come in.”

Rory poked his head in, “I noticed you were picking at your dinner so I brought you up some ginger tea. It’s good for settling your stomach.”

“Thank you.” She took the offered cup and sat down on the bed.

“How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know what to do, Rory. I really don't. The Doctor I just saw is too young for this."

Rory slowly sat on the chair opposite the bed and laced his fingers together, “Everything will work out, River. Give this all some time to settle in your mind before you figure out what you think your next step should be. You know you can stay here for as long as you like.”

River smiled, “Thank you, but I do have to go back to Stormcage at some point.”

Rory hesitated a moment before asking, “What do they do when an inmate gets pregnant?”

“I don’t think it's ever happened before. I don’t know if there’s a contingency plan for this situation.”

“I’m sure it will all work out.” He got to his feet, “You should get some rest now. I’ll see you in the morning.”

...

River spent a fitful night at the Pond’s, dozed on and off in the wee hours of the morning, and finally woke to the sound of Amy’s voice floating through the door, “River? Breakfast is ready. Rory says when you’re done to take you to the clinic.”

River got up and crossed the room to open the door, “Thanks, but I’m not really hungry.”

“Feeling a little sick?” River nodded and rested her head on the door, “I remember that. Well, sort of.” She offered with a small smile which River half-heartedly returned. “Will you just have some toast, or something? I don’t want you leaving the house without any food in you.”

River did smile now at how motherly the young woman sounded. “I’ll try to force something down.”

...

A while later River was laying on an exam table, waiting for Rory to come back into the room. They only had a brief window of time to get the ultrasound done, before the room was to be used again. She let out a shaky breath and jumped when she heard a knock on the door.

Rory walked in and gave her a warm smile. “Okay, this willbe quick, and relatively painless. I’m just kidding, it will be completely painless. The gel’s cold, but you’re a traveller of time and space, you can handle some cold gel. It’s got nothing on you.” He was trying so hard to put her at ease, and she felt the corners of her mouth tug up when he squeezed her arm affectionately. “Alright, here we go.”

“There’s your baby.” Rory said quietly, pointing to a small unrecognizable spot. River felt her heart constrict with a mixture of sadness and elation. Seeing a stick in a bathroom was one thing -having it confirmed made it real. “Do you want a picture?”

“Sure.” She felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes, and wiped at them quickly. “God... I’m pregnant.” She couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with Rory. "Does it seem like everything’s fine with the baby?”

Rory sighed inwardly at her concern for her child -everything would fall into place. “Everything looks great. I’m guessing we should find out how to get you properly seen to, considering this baby might be a bit beyond what I’ve been trained to do. Also I’m your dad, and I don’t want you to feel awkward... or for me to feel awkward. What about that Sisters place the Doctor took you to?”

“Yeah, I’ll think of some way to contact them. Thanks so much.” She said, as she studied the picture of the tiny unrecognizable life in her hand.

 ...

Amy was waiting for them in the coffee shop a little ways from the clinic, and handed the two of them drinks. “I didn’t know if you wanted coffee, because you’re stomach was upset earlier, so I got you a smoothie instead. I figured since you had only picked on breakfast, and haven’t had lunch it might fill you up a bit.”

“You’re only supposed to have about a cup of coffee a day, anyway, so you should start getting yourself used to drinking other things.” Rory offered as he took his cup from Amy and gave her a kiss, before turning to River and hesitating a moment before giving her a kiss on the cheek and leaving to go back to work.

“How did it go?” Amy asked when Rory left. River didn’t answer, but passed her the sonogram picture instead. “I’m assuming there’s a baby somewhere in here.”

“There.” River pointed to the spot Rory had showed her.

“How are you feeling?”

“I honestly don’t know yet. Does that make me a bad person?”

“You’re not a bad person at all, River. You’re wonderful, and amazing, and I promise Rory and I will be here for you one hundred percent.”


	2. Two

The next weeks passed in a blur of naps, diet changes, hormones, morning sickness, and life with the Ponds. Rory assured her that everything she was going through was perfectly normal, and had gave her a few tricks of the trade to ease her discomforts; they were proving to be rather helpful, but she still wore her hair up nowadays just to be safe.

Once River had a full week of feeling pretty good, she broke out the Vortex Manipulator and prepared to return to Stormcage.

"Dr. Song, so nice of you to return from your night out." one of the guards said stiffly when she reappeared.

"I need to speak with the Governor."

"What’s the reason?"

"I didn't know it was part of your job to listen to inmate issues." she said silkily.

"What is the issue concerning?" He asked coldly.

"Female things."

"You already had us make a door for your loo, is there really anything else you could need?"

"I do so appreciate the privacy, but yes I need more."

The guard slowly walked back toward the phone mounted to the wall across from her cell to make the call up to the main offices.

Two hours later the Governor had a half hour break where she had reluctantly agreed to a meeting. River allowed the guards to put her handcuffs on without any remarks or quips, and quietly made her way to the Governor's office.

"Dr. Song take a seat, please. I understand that you went on an adventure to a planet called," she looked over River's records, "'America'. When you came back from your little excursion, you promptly left for another one." She took her glasses off the bridge of her nose and sat down. "Tell me... why is it that you think you can just walk in and out of my prison?"

"I'm afraid it's not too difficult for me."

The Governor sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "And what is this pressing female issue?"

River took a deep breath and looked up at the older woman. "Well, ma'am, the truth is... I'm pregnant."

The Governor gave her a hard look before shifting in her seat. "Right. I'll need to see documentation."

"I have an ultrasound and paperwork from a clinic in 21st century Earth. And I'm willing to be tested here as well."

"Let me see the papers." The guard took River a bit too forcefully by the arm and roughly pulled her to her feet, before taking the rolled papers stuck in her pocket. He handed them to the Governor who looked over them, and as she did her facial expression changed. She pulled the ultrasound forward, and looked from it to River. "Okay." She said, her tone unreadable. "I'm going to need you to take a few tests here, since this is outdated technology. Please escort her to the medical wing, and don't be so rough when you handle her, Marcutious." she said finally to the guard.

...

Hours later, River was back in the Governer’s office. "Have a seat, Dr. Song." She said as she opened the medical exam and said, "So, you are indeed pregnant -three months along. I really shouldn't be surprised, since you treat this place like a hotel." If River wasn't mistaken, there was a hint of a smile behind those eyes, "I've given it thought over the course of the day, and I believe we should focus on the needs of the child. We will see that you to have care from the Sisters of the Infinite Schism, and will be making arrangements for an adoptive family-"

"That won't be necessary. I have already made arrangements myself."

"And they are?"

"My parents are going to take the child when it's born."

"Your parents?" She opened River's file and looked through it. "You have no parental records."

"They're living in 21st century Earth. My father is a nurse, my mother is a bit... she’s a bit freelance. But they are wonderful and have agreed to look after the baby."

The Governor looked at her for several moments, before looking back down at the medical report from the day. “I’ll need to confiscate your Vortex Manipulator.” River raised her eyebrows in question, “We can’t have you running rampant through all of time and space while under house arrest in 21st century Earth, can we?”

“House arrest?”

“More like planet arrest. Temporary until you give birth.” She didn’t look up as she began making notes on River’s prison record. “This facility is no place to wait out a pregnancy, we aren't equipped." River tried to hide her shock, and watched the Governor carefully, not ready to believe what she was hearing. "I’ll arrange for you to have transport to and from the Sisters of the Infinite Schism, and will be checking in with you during your appointment times to make sure you’re behaving yourself. Congratulations, and good luck, Dr. Song.”

* * *

 

Her first appointment at the Sisters of the Infinite Schism took place at the beginning of her fourth month. She hadn’t been there in a long time, and had forgotten just how enormous the hospital really was. It was like a city, and she found herself in the wrong place for her teleport. The secretary at a small information desk was helping to set her in the right direction when she heard a silky voice behind her drawl out, “ _Hel-lloo._ ” River smirked and looked over her shoulder at a tall dark-haired man in a grey ankle-length greatcoat moving to lean against the countertop next to her. “And who might you be?”

“Doctor River Song.”

“Ooh. _Doctor_ River Song -love that name. Captain Jack Harkness, and it’s a pleasure. Are you a doctor of medicine?”

“Archaeology.”

“Impressive. What brings you in here today?”

“Just a check-up.” She put her hand over the ultrasound picture in her coat pocket and smiled inwardly. “And you?”

“The very same. Tell me, would you be at all interested in joining me for lunch at the best hospital in the universe? They have decent food and a particularly excellent pudding cup.”

River smiled again and moved to slip her arm through the crook of his, “Lead the way, Captain.”

...

When they had sat themselves down at a corner table River removed her coat and Jack couldn’t help but admire her cleavage, as it was practically on display in a light green dress with zippers -one of her favorites. “So, what kind of things do you... archeologize? Is that the right word?” He smiled at her.

“I think excavate is the one you’re looking for.”

“Ah! So you like all that stuff?”

“ _Love_ a tomb.” She smiled. It felt nice to flirt like this.

“Where are you from?”

“Here and there.”

He laughed, “More specifically?”

“Right now I’m staying in the 21st century. I usually spend my time in this one, though.”

“May I ask why?”

“I needed some time away to clear my head and get a new chapter of my life in order. What about you? Were are you from?”

“Around. Not specifically anywhere.”

River found herself having a genuinely good time with the man; they had a good rapport, seemed to know some of the same people, and she found him easy to talk to. As she was finishing up he said, “Doctor Song I have had a great time with you. I’d enjoy sharing a cafeteria lunch with you any time. Or any other lunch will do. I have found some great places when traveling here and there -as have you, I bet.”

“I sure have.” She stood up and started putting on her jacket. “Thank you for the conversation, I so enjoyed it. I’m sure we’ll catch up soon.” With a smile she turned and left.

...

Back on Earth she had changed her outfit and gotten a few errands taken care of, when there was a knock at the door. Amy and Rory were not due home for another hour, so she figured whoever was there would have to come back later. She opened the door and was face to face with: “Captain Jack? I didn’t expect to see you this soon.”

“River Song. Forgive me, darling, but I’m just a nosy guy so I couldn’t help looking you up because I wanted to find out more about you... and did I ever. Aren’t you a little late for prison curfew?” He smiled, thought not in an unkind or condescending way; he looked genuinely amused. “Or did you forget that you weren’t given day passes in the highest security prison in the universe?” He brazenly let his eyes roam up and down her body, and they fell onto her growing belly which was more prominent in her jeans and t-shirt. “And you’re pregnant. You bad, bad girl.” He let out a chuckle now. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell on you. Firstly because you’re sexy as hell; secondly because I am dead impressed that you broke out of Stormcage.”

River was momentarily taken aback and slowly regained her momentum. “It’s not hard for me.”

“Of course not, I doubt anything is hard for you. Are you going to invite me in?”

After making tea and putting out some biscuits the pair sat in the kitchen and Jack reassured her once more that her secret was safe with him. When she felt at ease with him again he asked her about her plans during her pregnancy and after the baby was born. Time passed and River was having a good time with Jack again. He gave her the feeling that she was meeting an old friend who had been absent from her life for years. He was flirty, nice, just a little dense, and he made her laugh.

Suddenly Amy’s voice rang out from the hallway.

“River! Rory and I can’t decide what kind of food to order in, so we need you to be the tie breaker!” She walked into the kitchen and stopped when she saw Jack, “Oh, hello there.”

“Amy this is Jack Harkness. Jack, this is Amy Pond.”

Jack got to his feet and shook her hand, “A pleasure, Amy Pond.”

Rory came in hearing the sound of a male voice and looked questioningly at Amy. “Rory, this is Jack. He’s... River’s friend?”

“Nice to meet you.” Rory extended his hand in greeting.

“You too. How do you all know each other?” Jack asked River.

“It’s a long story but the short one is these are my parents.” Amy and Rory looked at her in shock while Jack raised his eyebrows.

“Your parents? You really are a time traveler.” He turned back to the Ponds, “And I can see where River gets her looks from.” He winked at Rory who turned to Amy as color rose in his cheeks.

Amy cleared her throat in an irritated manner, “Are you... a time traveler, too?”

“Yes I am. I met River at the Sisters of the Infinite Schism today. We had lunch together and then I went home and looked her up. Found out your little girl is in prison.” he said light heartedly. “So I came to take the mickey out of her and she offered me some tea and biscuits.” Amy and Rory looked slowly from River to Jack. “I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone about her affinity for containment facilities, or that she’s knocked up. I’m originally from her time, by the way. Well not exactly from her time -I travel around a lot. But basically her time. _Around_ her time. You know what? I’m babbling. What kind of food were you debating?”

“Uh. Thai... or pizza.”

“Pizza.” River said quickly.

“I agree. Pizza never goes out of style.” Jack said.

“Right. I’ll just go call now.” Ever the trooper, Rory took this moment in stride and left the kitchen to call their favorite pizza place.

“Will you stay for supper, Mr. Harkness?”

“Just Jack. I’d love to. How could I refuse supper with two beautiful women?”

A few more times with Jack was all River needed to feel like she had a brilliant friend. One afternoon he accompanied her to Central London for lunch, and shopping. She was outgrowing her clothes at a rapid rate and had been living in jodhpurs and her looser shirts long enough to convince herself that it was past time for maternity clothes shopping. 

“River, dear, while you start shopping I’m going to go and check on our reservation for lunch, and take a turn around the men’s department. Is half an hour too long to leave you here?”

“It’s probably just enough time for me to be cross, and in need of food.”

“Excellent! See you then.”

She made her way into the maternity department and started to pick through the racks of clothes she desperately did not want to wear. It wasn’t long before she heard, “River?”

She spun around, and behind the next rack was the Doctor. She was caught completely off guard, and hesitated to respond. “What are you doing _here_?”

“Sometimes I work in shops.” He smiled proudly, but it fell when he saw the skeptical look on her face. “Sometimes I pretend to work in shops when I need to investigate wonky shop happenings. Or when I need pocket money, which is often if you go through as many bow ties as I do. There has been a disappearance of baby booties, and I suspect that I know who the culprit is. The Sprongers: very small race, and fond of small and comfy spaces like fluffy baby shoes. Recently a ship from their planet crash landed on earth and I’ll bet they thought this was just the place for new beds. Got to find them, get them back to their planet, and get booties back on cold baby feet. That shirt looks awfully familiar.” She looked down at the light blue shirt that had been the deciding factor in going shopping today; there was nothing like having your only clothing option be one of the Doctor’s shirts that she had ‘borrowed’.

“Er, shall we do diaries?” she asked, trying to change the subject. “Where are you?”

“I’m staying with a mate named Craig. Great guy! Only been there a couple of days, waiting for some... uh... some problems to work themselves out. I’m pretty sure that’s a shirt from my closet. How did you get that? I haven’t even worn that yet! You’re taking away the pleasure of breaking in a brand new shirt from me.” She sighed as he started leaving his aisle to come to hers. This was a younger Doctor than she had hoped for. He stopped dead in his tracks when he came up her aisle, “River... are you... pregnant?”

She blushed, “I was going to return the shirt when I bought some clothes that actually fit me.”

“You’re pregnant. How are you pregnant?” He babbled as he slowly walked towards her.

“Don’t you know how a woman gets pregnant?”

“What? Of course I do! Human-y stuff! I meant...” He trailed off because he didn’t know what he meant. He was feeling an odd pang of something as he looked at her growing belly. It felt like an odd mixture of sadness and jealousy. But that was crazy because... well, _why_ would he be feeling jealous? Before he could stop himself he was reaching out to touch her growing stomach and he felt another jolt of sadness in his own. Her belly felt warm and something about it made him want to kneel in front of her, hug her close and kiss the bump.

He mentally shook away such a strange thought, and looked up at her face. She was watching him intently. “Wow,” he tried to regain some of his normal self, “there’s a baby in there.” He offered her a smile which she returned, and he blurted out, “I’ll make sure the booties are returned before this one is born. Um, let’s see...” He let go of her stomach and flailed around for a moment while she watched.

She placed her own hand over where the Doctor’s had been, keeping the warmth from this touch from leaving her skin. He returned a few moments later and handed her a giraffe teething toy, “Her name is Sophie. Let good old Uncle Doctor give the baby her first toy.” He squeaked it and handed it to her. “Well, River, it was lovely seeing you, but I should go find the Sprongers before any other baby shoes go missing. It was... lovely seeing you. Take care, please.” He gently tapped her nose before gently tapping her belly and backing away. “Keep the shirt, I’ve got another one I can wear.” And with that he set off leaving River clutching a small giraffe, and having no desire to try on clothes.


	3. Three

While Amy and Rory were working or going about their daily lives with their friends and colleagues, River spent more and more time with Jack. Though Amy and Rory had spent a good amount of time traveling, there was something different about chatting with someone who owned a Vortex Manipulator and could flit here and there independently.

They chatted this particular afternoon over a takeaway lunch from one of the places River discovered on her daily walks and runs. Five and a half months pregnant, and she still wasn’t ready to sit on the couch and focus on gestating a fetus. She felt a bit silly, jogging with a growing baby belly, but it helped to clear her mind, and made her feel so much better -especially when she and Jack ate the way they did.

“Try this.” she said holding out her fork to him.

“No, I can’t do spicy food.”

“It’s not that bad! It’s well worth the heartburn I’ll have tonight. If I can do it, so can you.”

“River...” he pouted at her.

“Oh, come on Jackie. How can you appreciate the spice of life if you don’t even _try_ spicy foods?”

He sighed. “It’s not too spicy?” She shook her head, and he took the offered bite, and raised his eyebrows. “Oh, I guess it’s not too bad.” After a moment though, his eyes began to water, and he quickly reached for his glass of water.

“Are you serious?”

He coughed and sputtered loudly, “I wish I were dead.”

“Oh, stop it!”

“I’ve had some bad things happen to me in my life, but not as bad as that.” He blew out a lungful of air and wiped at his streaming eyes.

She laughed, “You’re so dramatic.”

“I’ve been shot and it didn’t hurt that much. That’s concentrated hell fire!"

“You were shot? Where?”

“In the face.”

She smirked at him, “Look, I’ve been known to exaggerate a gunshot wound too, but you can’t say ‘in the face.’”

“I was, though." He looked at her seriously.

“Okay. Explain.”

“I can’t die.” He stated simply. She’d heard crazier things in her time, and calmly waited for him to elaborate upon that statement. “Long story short, something happened to me and now as far as I can tell, I can’t die. That’s why I was at the Sisters of the Infinite Schism the day we met; getting second hundred opinions.”

River took a moment to let the information sink in before taking a breath and confessing, “I used to be able to regenerate.”

“What, like a Time Lord?”

“Like a human with Time Lord DNA.”

“You’re part Time Lord and you never told me?”

She laughed. “You just told me you’re immortal! We all have our secrets.”

“Alright, fair enough. So you must know of the Doctor.”

“Yes, I do. My parents used to travel with him.”

“Really?” He smiled again. “I bet he just loves you.”

She looked down at her plate and pushed some food around, “Sometimes if I catch him at the right age.” She let out a sigh, “Long story short, our lives are out of order. One day I’ll see an older version of him who knows me very well, and then another I’ll meet someone who’s only met me a handful of times, and who doesn’t know where I fit into his life.”

“And is this baby his?” He’d never asked about the father, not wanting to press her for information she didn’t readily volunteer.

“Yes it is.”

“And he doesn’t know yet?”

“Right.”

Jack took a moment to collect his thoughts, and then reached out to take her hand in his. “I haven’t seen him in a really long time, but I’m sure he’ll be thrilled if and when you see him again.”

“I think my days of running into my Doctor might be at an end.” She was amazed at how good it felt to confess this fear that had been eating away at her heart.

“I really think you’re going to see him again. You’re carrying his child! How could he stay away? I mean, that ego of his! If an alien as old as him can still get a beautiful woman pregnant he’s going to come and be all proud and peacock-like, showing the baby off to the universe.” River let out a light laugh and squeezed his hand.

“God, I hope so.”

* * *

 

 Amy and Rory had been invited to a garden party for one of Rory’s co-workers, and had been trying to convince River to come with them. So far she had resisted. She didn’t want to impose, nor did she want to feel awkward around people she didn’t know.

“You can flirt with anyone, River! I want you to see how we’ve been adjusting to real life, meet some of our friends. It’ll be fun!” Amy said.

She sighed heavily and rubbed her stomach, “Alright, you win.”

“Oh, perfect! I got you something special for the occasion.” She hopped up and held her hand to River. “I hope you like it!”

...

River smoothed the skirt of her new dress as the three of rounded the corner to the party. “Thank you again for the dress, I really do love it.” It was powder blue, soft, and had short sleeves that ruffled softly. She wouldn’t normally choose something like this for herself, but it felt oddly special that Amy had picked it for her.

“I wanted you to have a pretty dress for a spring party. A mum needs to spoil her baby.” Amy replied as she held open the gate for Rory and River. “It does look very nice on you.”

“Rory, Amy! Hi!” a woman came over carrying a tray of lemonade. “Thanks for coming! And you must be River. I’ve heard so much about you! I’m Melissa.”

“You have?”

“Rory speaks so highly of you. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“You too.” River smiled and glanced at Rory. “What did you say about me?” River asked when they all had lemonade in hand, and Melissa had gone off to tend to the food.

“I said that you are a very good friend I’ve known pretty much all my life. You’re like family and you’re staying with us while your husband is abroad for work. And you know, maybe I've bragged a bit about your archaeology, and stuff like that.”

Rory’s friends were all so kind and welcoming to River. It should have occurred to her that being a group composed mostly of nurses and doctors, that they would make small talk with her about her pregnancy. She’d had her ear talked off by a middle aged nurse as she was getting a plateful of food.

River retreated to a corner table and scanned the garden for Amy or Rory. She’d heard that Melissa had recently moved into this house, and figured they might be getting a tour of the renovations she’d been doing. She was several bites into her meal when she felt a soft push near her bellybutton. Slowly putting down her fork, she placed her hand over the spot and held her breath, wondering if she had really felt what she thought she felt. A moment later she felt another push against her hand and a smile broke out across her face.

“What is it?” Amy asked as she took a seat next to her daughter.

“I felt the baby move. It’s not just flutters anymore, it’s actual proper movement.”

“Is it still happening?” River nodded and grabbed her hand to place it over the spot. Amy gasped. “Ohh River! What does it feel like?”

“Like, butterflies... or bubbles. It’s wonderful.” She smiled brilliantly, eyes still locked on her stomach.

Amy bent down to press a quick kiss on River’s belly, “Hello baby. It’s your Gran, would you believe it? I can’t wait to spoil this kid!” She laughed and reached up to cup River’s cheek, “You look so happy.” Amy observed.

“I love this baby.”

“I know you do.” She smiled at her daughter reassuringly and withdrew her hand from River’s cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short little update in between hectic work hours. :)


	4. Four

The table she was sitting on as she was waiting for the doctor was cold, and the paper beneath her crunched loudly every time she moved. How was it that technology could come so far, but doctor's offices couldn’t figure out a way to make a check up less uncomfortable. She sighed agitatedly before running her hands down her stomach. She was rewarded with a kick.

“Hello, little one.” she said quietly and looked down at her belly. “Are doctors _ever_ on time?” She checked her watch quickly before returning her hand to where the baby was pushing out against her palm. She’d been stuck here for nearly half an hour, wondering whether or not she had been forgotten about. A few moments later there was finally a knock at the door.

“Dr. Song, I apologize for the delay., a nurse she hadn’t met before walked in and smiled warmly at her, “I’m going to be filling in for Dr. Abbott -she just got called in for a delivery. Babies are on their own schedules!”

“Right.” River said shortly.

“I really am sorry. I know how frustrating it is to wait on someone. If you want to lay back, we can get started. I think I know what might make you feel better.” Soon the image of the ultrasound appeared on the screen before them, and River did feel her frustration and growing anxiety ease as she watched her baby sucking it's thumb. “Everything is looking great, Would you like to know the sex of your baby?”

“I... no. No, thank you.” River didn’t know that she was crying until the nurse passed her a tissue. The nurse had thought she was crying because of the scan picture, but when River let out a soft sob, she stood and walked over to placed a hand on her shoulder. “Pregnancy can be overwhelming. You can always talk to someone here -we’ve heard it all.” River nodded and pushed herself up on her elbows to wipe at her eyes. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to know if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“I want to wait-” she cut herself off before she said _for my husband to be with me._ She knew she was being hormonal, and desperately wanted the mood swing to pass. She felt ridiculous and laid back on the exam table, and ran her hand over her hair. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for Dr. Song.” She smiled again, "You don't have to find out today."

...

After she’d gathered up her newest scan pictures, River headed back to the Ponds quick as she could. She felt off for the remainder of the day, and attempted to keep herself busy until suppertime. When Amy arrived home, she brought dinner with her and explained that Rory wouldn’t be home until late. Later, over a movie and tea, Amy painted River’s nails. Amy looked up at River while she was blowing on her nails, “What’s up, River? You’ve been so quiet tonight.”

“I've been a bit tired today, is all.”

“How did your appointment go? Did you have to wait around a long time.”

“My fill-in nurse was late, and no one told me what was going on. I got another scan; she said everything looks good. She asked if I wanted to know the baby’s gender.”

“Really? And do I have a granddaughter, or a grandson?” she asked excitedly.

“I didn’t find out.”

“Oh.” Amy sounded a bit put-out, “Any particular reason?” River shook her head, and was surprised that tears were rushing to her eyes. _Here we go_ she thought as a flood of emotion overtook her. She felt Amy’s hand on her arm, and turned into her embrace. Amy smoothed her hair as River wept quietly for several moments. “You’re missing him a lot lately, aren’t you?” Amy asked gently, and felt River nod. “You can tell me when you’re upset you know. I know you’re not used to it, but I’m your mum... you can tell me anything.” River sniffed and then took in a deep steadying breath.

“Oh, I smudged my nails.” She said, laughing weakly.

Amy took her hand in hers and inspected the damage, “No worries, darling. Easy fix.”

She hadn’t wanted to unload her feelings on Amy, but she had to admit it helped her to feel better. Amy listened quietly and comforted River’s worries. These days River couldn’t hide her feelings away, they surfaced whether she liked it or not. 

* * *

 

River leaned back into a particularly painful spot that Jack was massaging, and let out a sigh of pain and relief. "Your shoulders are a mess, River," he said as he tried to get more leverage to provide her relief, "it's like massaging a brick."

She chuckled, "I don't normally sleep on my side, it's been doing my back in." They had finished supper, and were casually tuning in and out of the crap telly that was on in the background while relaxing. "You're very good at this."

"I dated a massage therapist once, but I kept falling asleep on him so we had to end it." River smiled and dropped her head when he massaged a tense section. After he worked out a particularly tough knot, she felt a strong and sudden urge. "Do you want some ice cream?"

"Lady, you don't have to ask me twice!" He laughed and gave her shoulders one last pass before getting to his feet and helping her to stand.

They sat at the kitchen counter, dipping their spoons into a container of strawberry ice cream. River let the cold treat slide down her throat and scraped her spoon across the frozen surface again. 

"This is good," Jack said around a rather large mouthful, "but you know what I love more?" 

"What's that?"

"There's this little place called Calandra Confections -practically a hole in the wall, but it's the best ice cream I've ever had."

"I love that place! I was thinking about the the pineapple mango one, but I thought this would suffice."

Jack gave her a hard look and put his spoon down dramatically, before taking hers out of her hand. "Why are we eating this crap? I'm going to go get us some Calandra's. Be back in a flash!"

“You are so naughty!” She laughed as he gathered up his coat.

 ...

It tasted even better than she had remembered, "Oh, Jack, thank goodness for Vortex Manipulators."

"I don't know why the Doctor disapproves of them. Doesn't he know not all of us had the opportunity to steal a TARDIS, and have to make do?" River smiled, but felt her heart clench at the mention of the Doctor. Jack noticed, "I know you miss him, but you're handling everything really well."

"It doesn't feel that way sometimes." She remembered back to the day she had cried in Amy’s arms almost three weeks ago.

"What is it about him that just drives you crazy in the best and worst ways?"

"I don't know, but I love him so much." She ran a hand over her stomach and felt the baby press against it. It was a comforting feeling. She smiled and brushed a thumb across what she imagined was the baby's foot. She knew she was getting soft, but the pregnancy was changing her.

"You look really pretty when you go into your own little baby world." She smiled. "If we both weren't fighting over the same man I'd ravish you right now." he teased.

"Don't temp me, it's been a long time." She stood and placed a hand on the small of her back. Jack got to his feet and pulled her in for a hug, "Thank you so much for spoiling me with that ice cream."

"My pleasure. Get some sleep, I'll see you soon." He held her for a moment longer and placed a kiss on her temple.

* * *

 

It was rare that River got a moment to herself anymore between check ups, shopping for baby things, and spending time with Amy, Rory, and Jack. On this day she walked through town. She thought about her baby growing up here... growing up here without her. Jack kept reminding her not to upset herself over it at the present, and just enjoy her pregnancy -reality was coming for her later, she should live every moment of this to it's fullest.

Sometimes the baby got into uncomfortable positions that threw River's balance off, or made her hips hurt. She tried to coax the baby into a more comfortable position, but had no luck. "Give your mummy a break." she said quietly as she sat down on a bench in the park. She was rewarded with a few strong kicks to the ribs. 

"River?" She turned her head toward the source of that familiar voice.

"Doctor." he slowly walked toward her, long coat swishing around his knees. He looked terribly sad. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm the King of Alright." his slightly defeated tone did not convince her. "Can I sit with you?"

"Of course." They sat in silence for a while, watching the sky grow pink, orange, and purple in the fading light. 

"You're pregnant. I saw you a long time ago in a store and you were pregnant. Is this the same one?"

"Yes." _A long time ago? How old was this Doctor?_

"How have you been?"

"Tired and sore, but fine otherwise." Her heart was pounding. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too. You look very... maternal.” He watched her hand slide across her abdomen and hesitantly asked, "Can I-" and motioned toward her belly. She took his hand and placed it where the baby was moving, covering it with her own. The last time he'd seen her pregnant he had felt a jolt of something he thought was sadness and jealousy; this time he felt something similar to... familiarity? “Amy thinks I’m dead. I’m companionless, as it were.” He kept his eyes trained on her stomach, but she could hear the sadness in his voice.

Her stomach flip-flopped. While she felt badly that he was hurting, a part of her was practically screaming with relief because this Doctor was older. “Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry.” She bought her other hand up to caress his forearm.

He closed his eyes and tried to reach out to the tiny baby growing inside of her. A thought bubbled up in the back of his mind and he looked up at her with tired-looking eyes. “River,” he wondered how crazy this question was, -possibly not crazy at all, but the possible answer would change his world forever, “this baby... the same baby you were pregnant with when I saw you years ago... who’s the father?” He looked up at her now.

Tears immediately began to well up in her eyes, and her breath hitched, “It’s yours.”

His eyebrows flew up, even though somehow he knew that’s what she was going to say. He supposed he had known it for a very long time and was too stubborn to accept it. The Doctor looked down at her stomach and then up at the beautiful and impossible woman before him who had uncertain tears running down her face. He did the only thing he thought he could in that moment -pull her in and hold her close to him. She let out a strangled sob at the contact, and clung to him. He brought up and hand and threaded his fingers through her curls, while the other hand rubbed soothing patterns on her back. Neither knew how long they stayed wrapped up in each other. “River,” he breathed out, “River, I’m so sorry I left you alone during this.” 

“I’ve missed you so much.” 

“And I you.” He continued caressing her back until her soft hiccoughs stopped. He rarely heard her cry, and the sound broke his hearts. He rested his forehead against hers, and just breathed her in. “Please come with me. I’ll have you back before it gets completely dark.” She didn’t need to be ask twice. He helped her to her feet and slid her arm into the crook of his.

... 

He was considerate enough of her condition to put the stabilizers on when they left to float around in some random galaxy. River watched him as he worked and smiled when he stopped in front of her, "Took the breaks off and used the blue boring-ers. For you, my love."

"Thank you."

"You look beautiful." he let his hands slide forward to caress her belly. The pang of sadness, and loneliness that he had filled him the first time he'd felt the tiny life in there was being replaced by a swelling pride, and a fierce protectiveness. "Oh, River." he kissed her tenderly on the temple before slowly kissing his way down to her neck. She tilted her head to allow him better access as he placed open mouth kisses on her throat.

When he pulled her close, she practically melted into his touch, indescribably happy to be in his arms. She let out a soft moan and he responded by trailing his hands up and down her body, feeling the changes that it had made."You look amazing.” He let his eyes roam across her body, and trailed a finger softly across the top of her breasts. He lightly kissed from her neck to just above where her shirt hid the rest from sight.

His hands were everywhere: caressing her back, her neck and shoulders, her waist and stomach, and hips. He pulled up her shirt up in fistfuls and slid his hands under, then pulled away to inspect. “Wait a second, how high do these things go?” Momentarily distracted, he hiked up her shirt. “Are they supposed to do that?”

She laughed. “Yes, they’re for pregnant women.”

“They’re not ideal for when you want to touch every inch of your wife.” He hooked his fingers at the top of her leggings and inched them downward, caressing her warm skin as he went.

River didn’t know if it was her own excitement, or the skin on skin contact, but she let out a breathy laugh and said, “The baby is moving so much. Must know that you’re here.”

He cradled her stomach with both hands and bent down to kiss the swell. “Hello little one.” River covered his hand with hers and guided it to where he could feel the baby move. “Oh, there you are.” He laughed and the sound sent a thrill up River’s spine. She gently ran her fingers through his hair as he continued to caress her belly. “We’re having a baby. This is wonderful.” River leaned on the console for support and shuddered as the Doctor continued to nuzzle her growing midsection. She felt so overwhelmed with happiness and love that she worried she’d start crying, and drew in a deep breath to steady herself.

The Doctor raised his eyes to her, “Are you okay?"

She nodded. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he got to his feet, and pulled her in for a slow and loving kiss. It was so familiar and different to the one they’d shared in her cell after America. There were no flails or unsure hands grasping at her waist and shoulders; he pulled her as close as he could manage and touched her confidently. As the kiss deepened, their caresses became more desperate. River couldn’t suppress a whimper at how good his lips felt, and he groaned in response and pulled at her hips.

“Ohh, I need...” she began breathlessly.

“Tell me what you need.” he said huskily.

“I need you.”

“Far be it from me to deny you anything, my dear.” He gave her a last smoldering kiss before taking her hand and leading her to a more comfortable location to continue.


	5. Five

When the couple's breathing had finally evened out, the Doctor helped River roll over to face him, and placed a languid kiss on her lips. They rested their foreheads against each other's, and enjoyed the close contact as they came back down. After a moment River let out a shaky sigh, and the Doctor watched a tear slip from behind her closed eyelids. "What's wrong?" He asked, pulling away to look at her face. She sniffed quietly, and pulled him in close to her again. "Why are you crying?" he asked gently as he put his forehead against hers and let his hand idly roam her body.

"I'm just really hormonal." she said trying to make light of her feelings. "It feels good to be in your arms, and I can't control my emotions."

The Doctor smiled slightly and pulled her in as close as her bump would allow. "Are you having a lot of mood swings?"

She couldn’t bring herself to say she often cried these days when the ache for him became too much. When she wasn’t pregnant, it was easier to hide the feeling, but these days it could knock her sideways and send her off into a deep longing sadness. Instead she shook her head and said, "I tend to get irritated more quickly now that I can't shoot at things."

The Doctor squeezed her hip gently, "I'm glad you're having to deal with that normally now." he teased and rolled into his back, allowing River to place her head in the crook of his neck. He lightly caressed the arm she draped over him with one hand while the other traced patterns on her shoulder. "Any odd food affinities I should know about?"

"Not really. Though the other day I was hungry enough that I ate Amy's cooking and thought it was fantastic."

"Amy can't even make decent beans. You must have been out of your mind with hunger."

She laughed and ran her hands up his bare chest before placing a kiss on his neck. "I was."

"Anything else?" he shivered as she tugged gently at his earlobe with her teeth.

Suddenly feeling much more her normal self, she dropped her voice and said, "I've felt like fucking anything that moves."

He closed his eyes at her brazen use of words, and licked his suddenly dry lips, "That's.. broad... erm... and... what do you do about that?"

She surprised herself when she pushed herself up with relatively little effort and kissed his collarbone. "I’ve just dealt with it. Jack did buy me a screwdriver of my own, for when I felt especially insatiable." she had hoisted herself up and was now straddling him.

"A what?" she wasn't implying what he thought she was, was she? "Wait a second -who's Jack?"

"I made a friend! Jack Harkness. Quite a naughty boy. He’s got a bit of a crush on you, you know." She smiled mischievously and gently rocked against him.

"Did he try anything with you?"

She smirked at the unmasked jealousy in his eyes, "No, but I do think you might have some competition with Rory." She leaned down as best she could and kissed him. He trailed his hands down her back and ran his tongue over her bottom lip.

They gasped at a particularly strong kick low in her belly. She pushed her upper body into a sitting position and let out a soft moan of discomfort as she ran her palm across the spot. The Doctor moved his hands to the curve of her belly and chuckled. She opened her eyes and pouted at him.

"She doesn't like you making fun of Rory." he joked and massaged the area gingerly.

"Apparently not." She smiled down at him, "She?"

"That just slipped out, I don't know either way. Do you?"

She shook her head, trailing her hands down his chest. "I wanted to be surprised. Or to find out with you.”

He gave her a lopsided smile and touched her cheek with his hand, and the two awkwardly circumnavigated her belly to meet for a kiss.

...

She woke slowly the next morning, feeling too warm and comfortable to fully give in to being fully conscious. The baby somersaulted lazily, and she brought a hand up to feel the movement, but was startled to make contact with another hand. She wrenched it away from her with a burst of energy, and heard a startled cry of pain.

"Ow!"

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I forgot I was here with you.” she said breathlessly, blinking sleep out of her eyes.

“No, no, it’s okay. I’m sorry I scared you.” He said as he massaged his wrist. “Good morning.”

She smiled sleepily as her heart rate slowed to normal, “How long have you been up?”

“A while. You look very beautiful when you're asleep.” She rolled her eyes and reached for his hand and laced her fingers through his. “Then again, you look beautiful all the time.” He moved in to kiss her.

“Sweetie.” she smiled into the kiss as he pressed closer to her and began kissing her neck. “Hold on. Let me up a moment, I need to pee.”

When she came back out into the bedroom, the Doctor had put on trousers and was tucking the hem of a blue button down into the waistband. “Feel like going somewhere?” He asked as he pulled red braces up onto his shoulders.

“Always. Where?”

“Wherever you want.”

“Surprise me. Just nowhere that I have to run, please.” she said, walking over to him to help with his bow tie.

“Got it -someplace boring.” he teased and bopped her nose with his finger.

...

“Where are we?” she asked as he opened the door to allow her to look around. “A spa?" she laughed, "Oh, sweetie, how unlike you.”

“Well, I suspect it’s hard work carrying a baby all day and having no relief.”

“And what are you going to be doing while I’m being seen to? Get your nails done? You’re not leaving me to go save a universe somewhere, are you?”

“Okay, I don’t intentionally go and find universes to save. They find me! I’m just going to be on the TARDIS. Something’s wrong with the shower; the water keeps coming out ice cold, and bright purple.”

“Boys and their toys.” she smiled and leaned up to kiss him. “Don’t fiddle with her too much, the poor girl doesn’t like it.”

Ninety minutes later, River was surprised to see the Doctor waiting for her. “How was it?”

“Amazing. Thank you so much.” She smiled sleepily at him and brought a hand up to caress her belly. “It relaxed us both.”

He took her easily in his arms, and she nuzzled against his neck. “Are you hungry?” He brushed a few of her curls away from his face and caught a whiff of the oils the masseuse had used.

“Yes,” she laughed, “almost constantly.”

...

They walked hand in hand to the TARDIS after an afternoon of eating and exploring.  No sooner had the door closed behind them, the Doctor was backing her up against the door, and kissing her. It didn’t take much to get her going these days, and soon she was panting and pulling at his clothes. She started steering him away from the door, pushing off his braces, and untucking his shirt. When his back hit the railing of the console stairs, she moved her hand down to stroke him through his jeans. His low groan sent a chill up her spine, and she smiled when he buried his face in her hair. 

After a several long moments, the Doctor started to lift her dress, and danced his fingers over the top of her thigh so he could push aside the lace barrier separating him from his goal. She threw her head back as he slowly stroked her, finally relieving the delicious ache.

“Sweetie, enough - _ah!_ No more teasing, please.” She whinged as her body began craving more. He withdrew his hand and brought his wet fingers to his mouth. He smirked at flushed look on her face, and started leading her up the stairs to the bedroom. She shook her head, and pushed her knickers off her hips before reaching for him to unzip his trousers. She kissed him, and nipped at his bottom lip, before turning around and pushing her bum into his groin; apparently she had something else in mind.

“Here? Are you sure?”

“I'm so very sure.  _Please_.” She begged softly as she leaned forward and flattened her palms against the machine. “Take me here.” and she practically sobbed with relief as he slid easily inside her, and began to move deliciously slow.

Too slow, actually. After a while she rocked her hips back, needing more. “ _Faster._ ” she moaned.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” The Doctor’s voice sounded strained, as though it was taking all his effort to keep a slow pace.

“You won’t. Come _on_ , sweetie.” She reached back and took one of the hands that was on her hip and laced their fingers together. He obliged her demands and quickened his movements. She moaned loudly in approval. “ _Ohh_ , _yes_!” She put her head down against arm that was braced on the console and groaned, meeting him thrust for thrust. She felt herself getting close to tipping over the edge when she heard the Doctor say, “You’re so beautiful, River.” His breath hitched, “Love you like this.” He moved their joined hands to her belly. “Carrying our child.”

River let out a soft whimper and breathlessly said, “Slow down, please.”

“Are you alright?” He asked, stilling his movements.

“Yes, fine," she panted, "I thought I wanted this to be fast,” she looked at him over her shoulder and stroked his hand on her stomach, “I want slow.” She pushed herself more upright, suddenly wanting to be closer to him. He untangled their hands, and brushed curls away from her neck to kiss her skin gently before resuming his movements -albeit slower. Smoothing the hand still on her hip up her side, he wrapped it around her waist and pulled her closer to him. His free hand inched down her body and began gathering up her skirt. He had barely began to stroke her when she cried out, her hands gripping at the console and the arm round her waist. She threw her head back against his shoulder as he caressed her gently, wave upon wave of pleasure crashing over her. These hormones could be wonderful _amazing_ things.

When she came somewhat back to her senses, she felt the Doctor’s ragged breath on her neck as he tried to still his hips. “Go on, sweetie.” she said feeling close to spent. Another climax caught her off guard moments before the Doctor groaned into her hair as he followed her over the edge.

She didn’t know how she ended up practically laying across the console, but she felt the Doctor softly caressing her back as she tried to catch her breath. She trembled under his touch and he slowly slid out of her, causing her to let out a quiet moan. He left her side and she couldn’t find any energy to lift herself up to see what he was doing. She felt him slip his jacket over her shoulders, and resume the soft caressing of her back.

Eventually she opened her eyes and began to push herself into a standing position, before turning and reaching for him to meet her in a kiss.

“Shall we go and have a lie down?” he asked when they broke apart.

“Not just yet. Will you hold me for a while?” He nodded and took her in his arms.

She sighed contentedly and rested her head in the crook of his neck, breathing in his soothing scent.

“I love you.” he said softly as he rubbed soothing patterns on her back. They didn’t say it very often, knowing words weren’t always capable of expressing how they felt. River smiled now and smoothed his hair with the palm of her hand as she placed a soft kiss on his jaw.

“And I love you.” Her heart always felt as though it skipped a beat when they put their love in words, and she always appreciated it more than she could say when he told her he loved her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing smut. I'm going to go awkwardly sit in a corner and stop blushing...


	6. Six

River had become so accustom to having a full night's sleep that staying up and exerting herself, no matter how much she enjoyed it, wiped her out for the next day. Prior to becoming pregnant she rarely napped unless she needed to recover from some insane adventure. Nowadays naps were commonplace and she actually looked forward to a midday snooze.

The Doctor was fiddling with a few wires under the console, hoping to find out why the shower was _still_ coming out ice cold and bright purple. "It's never done that before. Once hot Jello came out of the nozzle. Then there was the time it was chocolate after I went to a wedding and became obsessed with fondu."

River sat down on the chair on the console platform and covered herself with a blanket. She sighed as exhaustion washed over her; the Doctor could be under the console for a while chattering on for ages about who knows what, so she may as well rest her eyes.

"I think that should do it!" he exclaimed a while later, "Shall we pop off and test it out?" His voice trailed off as he climbed the stairs and caught sight of River sleeping peacefully. The Doctor smiled, brushed away stray curls, and ran a finger down her cheek. He would carry her to a more comfortable sleeping spot, but worried about disturbing her, or even worse dropping her. He’d never admit this aloud, especially since most of her added weight was their child, but it would definitely make a difference carrying her now versus when she wasn’t pregnant. He dropped his gaze to her stomach and bent down to place a soft kiss on it. 

"Hello, little one." He quietly said as he softly stroked her belly, and felt the baby roll over and press against his palm as if greeting him. “Your mum’s asleep, so it’s sort of just the two of us right now. Well, obviously it’s not really just the two of us, but we're the only ones who are awake right now. Sorry, you should know your old dad rambles, especially when he gets nervous. I shouldn’t be nervous talking to you, but I am a bit.

"You know, it’s been a long time since I was a dad. It’s not something I think about these days. I’m nervous that I’m not always going to be around when you need me. Well, the _exact_ minute you need me -I’ll always be there for you... might just take me a while to get there. This is just a general disclaimer, by the way. I am hoping to always be there when you call. And whenever you don’t call.

"Your mum and I love you so very much. That’s the most important thing to remember; you are loved always and completely. You’re the child of two time travelers, and you’re going to be amazing. I can’t wait to show you the stars.” He felt a strong kick out against his palm and massaged the area, before being rewarded with several more.

River made a small noise of discomfort in her sleep. The Doctor raised his eyes to look up at her face, and then leaned forward to place his lips against where the baby was kicking, “Easy now, you’re mum’s trying to sleep.”

He bit his lip and looked up to make sure River was definitely asleep before placing his hands on her belly, closing his eyes, and trying to reach out to his child. The tiny life had no tangible thoughts at the present, it was merely a swirling conscience. Rather than getting thoughts, or seeing memories, he was feeling emotions. The emotion felt very close to excitement; excitement to be kicking around in it’s squashy waterbed, excitement to be alive, excitement that someone was reaching out to it... and there so much love! The amount of love the baby had for River was incredible!

He heard a small gasp above him, and looked up to see River’s eyes now open and shining with unshed tears. She met his gaze, and the wonder and amazement on her face took his breath away. Tears began to fall from her eyes as she smiled, and he wondered if she was even aware of the fact that she was crying. “That’s the baby?” It was both a question and a statement. He nodded in response, and almost laughed at the surge of excitement that the baby gave off as River spoke. River made a sound between a sob and a laugh, and she covered her face with her hands. She felt overwhelmed with happiness as she felt her baby’s thoughts for the first time, and began to properly cry. The Doctor moved up from his crouched position by her legs and wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m sorry, I should have waited until you were awake.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.” she brushed at her tears and held onto him tightly.

“Did you notice how excited she got when you spoke?” He smoothed her hair and placed a kiss on her temple. “The baby loves you so much, River.” He felt her smile and nod against his shoulder, and then she pulled away.

“Will you do it again?” She asked, and placed his hands over where the baby was moving. “Please?”

...

She’d untangled herself from his arms carefully, grabbing a t-shirt from the floor, and slipped into the bathroom. _That’s what you get for having tea close to bedtime_ , she inwardly chided herself.

When she came back into the room, the Doctor was sprawled in the middle of the bed, covers wrapped around his long legs and nearly kicked off. Hyperactive even in his sleep, much like their baby which seemed to be most active when River wanted to rest.

River thought about climbing into bed and going back to sleep when she realized she felt oddly awake -and hungry. Trouble with sleeping on the TARDIS was that you never knew when it was night and when it was day. The Doctor rolled over and began snuggling her pillow. She climbed onto the bed and leaned over to kiss his exposed neck, and run her hands down his shoulder. He made a soft sound in his throat and she rubbed his shoulders and placed open mouth kisses on his neck. He rolled over under her and opened his eyes slowly as though their weight was too much so soon after waking. 

“Good morning, my love.” She smiled and stroked his cheek and bent down to kiss the bridge of his nose.

He smiled and brought his hands up to her waist and gently guided her to lay down with her back curled up against his front. “Good morning to you, too.” His voice was heavy with sleep as he nuzzled his face into her curls, and brushed a hand over her belly.

While she wanted to get him up and do something before breaking the news that she should probably return to Amy and Rory’s sometime very soon, he was making her feel so warm and comfortable that she felt herself giving into sleep. Her last thought before drifting off for a few more hours was that it wouldn’t make much difference with a time machine, really. ‘Later’ was a pretty abstract concept on this ship.


	7. Seven

The Doctor landed down the street from the Pond's, and felt the oncoming ache of loneliness settling in his hearts. "Detour through the park first?" he asked hopefully.

They strolled in a comfortable silence, neither wanting the inevitable goodbye that would come too soon. They sat on the same bench they had left both moments and days ago. River rested her head on his shoulder and relished being with the man who made her feel complete. When she felt like she could cry very soon, she suggested they start heading back to Amy and Rory's; she'd cried enough in front of him, and felt like giving into a good long one by herself. The Doctor nodded sadly and helped her to her feet.

When they reached the front of the cloaked TARDIS he tugged on her hand and pulled her around to face him and tried to put how much he loved and appreciated her into words. She stopped his quiet mumbling by kissing him soundly on the lips. The Doctor put his hands on her stomach, "Please take care of yourself."

"Of course." she said and allowed him to pull her into a tight hug before forcing herself to turn before she never found the strength to go.

"River!" he called when she was a few yards away. She looked back at his handsome face expectantly, "You are adorable with that waddle."

Her face must have fallen slightly because his expression changed and he ran towards her, "Maybe not the best thing to say to lighten the mood." he cupped her cheek with one hand and kissed her one last time with all the love he could. "You're so beautiful and so amazing, my River Song."

"Go on, sweetie, before I never let you leave." she smiled softly and pushed on his chest. She watched him go, and with one last look at her he shut the doors, and was gone.

The walk up to the house felt like it absorbed all her energy, and she rested her head on the door for a moment before pushing it open.

A noise from the kitchen startled her and took her mind off her sadness. She picked up the umbrella from the stand and began to cautiously walked towards the source of the sound, hoping with all hopes she wouldn't have to defend herself in her condition. She turned the corner and saw Jack holding two cups of ice cream with a huge grin his face. She dropped the umbrella to the floor, and her vision blurred with the tears she had not wanted anyone else to see.

Jack put the cups on the counter and walked over to River, taking her in his arms and letting her cry freely. She sobbed helplessly as she clung to his coat, her tears staining the fabric as he rubbed her back softly.

“I’m sorry if I startled you.” He was at a loss for the cause of her meltdown. River was having trouble drawing breath, and wasn’t sure she had ever cried this hard in her life. Jack worried she’d make herself sick and tried to calm her as best he could.

“What’s the matter? Can I help?” he asked when he heartbreaking tears finally began to ebb.

"I saw the Doctor. My Doctor." She hiccoughed and brushed tears off her face.

Jack's eyebrows raised in surprise, "Just now? What did he do to you?"

River sat down and brought a hand up to soothe her baby, who seemed to sensed the distress it's mother was under and was twisting uncomfortably. "Nothing. Everything's fine." she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. "He was in the park down the road and saw me. I told him the baby was his, and he's really happy." She looked at Jack and smiled weakly.

"That's good! If he's happy, why are you crying?"

"I've been gone a few days with him. It was wonderful, but I don't know when I'll see him again, and I just miss him so much and..." she started crying again and quickly tried to collect herself. She ran her hands across her stomach this time in a self-soothing manner and fought to control her breath. Jack had never seen her so unhinged and scooped up a spoonful of ice cream, wanting to ease her heartache. Thankfully she looked at the frozen treat inches from her mouth and let out a quiet attempt at a laugh before allowing Jack to feed it to her.

"I really admire you, you know that? I can't imagine dealing with half the stuff you go through. I don’t know how you do it."

"Me either." she said around a spoonful of ice cream.

"Did you have a good time?" He asked after a while, when the tracks of tears had finally dried and she’d calmed down. "Did you get it in?

"Mr. Harkness, I am a lady."

He let out a loud laugh, "You are certainly something! I'm only asking because..." he sighed, "I'm jealous. I want some vicarious fun!"

River smiled, and accepted another bite of ice cream. "Let's just say I didn't get much sleep."

"You naughty girl! How was it?"

"Amazing." She took the cup from him, and played with the spoon absentmindedly. “I really needed it.”

"I know you’re upset he left, but you really needed to see him. You look better. It’s amazing what a good shag will do for you.” He said with a grin as he started on his own cup of ice cream.

...

Rory trailed up the stairs behind Amy, completely worn out after his double shift at the clinic. He had a glorious four days off ahead of him, and had somehow managed to muster up enough enthusiasm to go out for supper with Amy. He could already feel the knots in his shoulder letting up at the thought of a hot shower and a cup of tea before bed.

Amy paused outside the door to River’s room, hearing the indistinct murmuring of the television coming from the other side, and knocked gently. “River?” She called quietly before pushing the door open a crack when she got no answer.

“Is she alright?” he asked at the quick look of surprise on her face.

“She’s fine. She’s asleep, snuggling with Jack.” She startled when Rory quickly put his hand out to stop her closing the door, and peered in. River was indeed fast asleep with her head in the crook of Jack’s shoulder, and her hand in his on his chest. Rory felt Amy’s hand on his upper arm, tugging gently to pull him away.

“What exactly do you think is going on?” Rory asked several minutes after he’d gotten out of the shower.

“I don’t know, Rory.” Amy replied, not looking up from her book. “It’s not really my business, is it?”

He pulled on a t-shirt in an exasperated manner, and sat down on the bed with his back to his wife. I know River’s a grown adult and she can do as she likes, but she’s -she’s married!”

“Is she really technically, or properly married?” The look Rory gave her made her put down her book and run her hands over his shoulders. “Alright, I know you’re feeling protective of her, and it really is so sweet,” she paused and kissed his cheek, “but she’s so lonely and vulnerable right now. She’s not used to feeling this way! She needs to be held, loved. Who’s to say when she’ll see a version of her husband who can give her all of that?" Rory grumbled and shrugged. "The Doctor is my best friend, and I love him, but he isn’t here right now.” She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

...

River woke early and untangled herself from Jack’s arms. Needing to clear her head, she dressed and left the house for a jog.

The air was surprisingly crisp for late spring, and she was glad she had taken a light jacket with her. Her mind wanted to run faster -she loved the thrill of running quickly, especially if it was from provoked chasers- but she felt as though the baby’s fist was digging into her hip as the run went on, and she had to slow her already decelerated pace to what most would consider a ‘brisk walk’. Irritated at feeling like she was moving through molasses, she quitted her run early, and headed home.

Jack smiled sleepily at her when she returned to her room. “Good morning.” he stretched, "That was a really good sleep. This bed is something else."

“You’re up early.” she said, toeing off her shoes.

“Hardly. It’s quarter to eight and you’ve already been for a run. How was it?”

“Not great. The baby decided that we had to walk instead.” She unzipped her jacket and rubbed the spot where the tiny fist had been stuck out in protest.

“Oh, sure, the old  _baby_ _didn’t want to run_ line.” He smirked.

“Honestly it was too uncomfortable.” She pulled off her jacket and looked at herself in the mirror.

What a difference a few days away from a full-length mirror will do! She felt as though she’d suddenly gone from having a manageable sized baby bump to full-blown pregnancy. No wonder she’d _waddled_ when she left the TARDIS yesterday; her body must’ve needed to readjust to Earths gravity, for goodness sake! All of a sudden she felt huge, and she was only going to get bigger, which was a frightening thought.

She wondered if her thoughts were being written across her face when Jack said, “You look beautiful, River.” She crossed the room to curl up next to him on the bed, and he wrapped his arms around her, “Oh, and you’re sweaty from your quote/unquote run.” He said jokingly nudged her away from himself.

...

Amy had decided to take River into the city on a free day she had from work. The two got up early and spent the better part of the day walking around, looking in shops, and having lunch.

“So River,” Amy eyed her daughter over her glass of water while they waited for their meals, “Jack stayed over the other night? Do we need to chat about house rules?” she teased.

“I think you’re too late for the 'no boys in the bedroom' talk.” She let a hand fall on her belly as she leaned forward to grab one of the rolls the waitress had left on the table.

“Remember when Rory and I were starting to date, and I kept dragging you along to keep it from feeling too real and awkward? We saw that movie _Juno_?”

“Yes. I hated everything about that night!” Sometimes the memories from her past lives felt like they belonged to someone else, but her interactions with Amy and Rory were mostly vivid. Sadly, so were those dates.

“Remember how the girl said something like she couldn't get into any more trouble because she was pregnant? That's what you just reminded me of.”

“I’m surprised you remember anything any of the characters said during that movie, considering you and Rory made out the entire time. It was so awkward.”

“Oh, and I suppose you letting me talk with you about your and the Doctor's relationship wasn’t?”

River stopped putting butter on a piece of her roll for a moment and smirked. “Do I? I haven’t had that opportunity yet, but I’ll look forward to returning the favor some day.”

...

River and Amy arrived back home, and started up the stairs to the new baby’s room. Amy had helped River find several paint colors that were gender neutral, and they were going to start decorating and putting in the furniture soon -or so River had thought. River pushed open the door and let out a quiet gasp when she found it already finished.

“What do you think?” Amy asked.

River shook her head, trying to get over the fact that when she’d left for the city with Amy, this room had still been an office/catchall, and now it was a room fit for a baby. “I love it.”

“I thought you would! Okay, be right back.” She turned and hurried down the stairs. River watched her go, and slowly turned her attention back to the small bag in her hand. Now she understood why Amy had insisted that she look around for some sort of stuffed animal and blanket.

She walked over to the crib and ran her hand across the railing with a soft smile. She pulled the powder blue and light yellow brocade pattern blanket out of the bag and laid it over the railing, then took out the cream colored stuffed rabbit. She had fallen in love with the impossibly soft stuffed animal when she touched it, and knew she had to buy it. She cradled it to her chest and suddenly found herself daydreaming about her baby.

It was feeling more and more real every day, and now the nursery was done, she felt there would be little else on her mind as she prepared for the arrival of her child. “What do you think, little one? Do you like your new room?” She caressed her belly and placed the rabbit in the crib. She turned and began to look at the decorations and furniture in the room. She bent down to inspect the books on the bookshelf and smiled at the titles had been put there; it was obvious which were picked out by the respective grandparents. She looked up when Amy reappeared in the doorway again and said, “Come downstairs. We can look around the room a little later.” She had a big grin on her face as River followed her out into the garden.

She smiled brightly when she saw Jack and Rory standing in the now decorated garden next to a table with food and drinks. “What’s all of this?”

“Your baby shower!” Amy put her hands on River’s arms and rubbed them gently.

“Surprise!” Rory said as he walked over to River and kissed her cheek. “How do you like the baby’s room?”

“It’s perfect, thank you so much. How did you do all of that so quickly?”

“It was a little close at the end, honestly.” Jack said as he handed her a glass of lemonade.

It was a small shower, but the four of them had a lovely evening. When the sun started setting, Rory lit the fairy lights in the garden, while Amy and Jack brought out presents. It was mostly practical things, like clothes, socks, burp cloths, and other baby essentials, but River couldn’t get over how small everything was. Among the many gifts that Jack had showered upon the baby was a basket of soft toys.

“I’m determined to give the baby the game changer toy. You know, the one the kid can’t live without? And then someday, the baby will say to you, ‘Mum, who gave me this awesome toy that defined my childhood?’and you'll will say, ‘It was Uncle Jack, because he's the greatest Uncle’.” He teased and gave River a bright smile.

“I dunno, Jack. River bought a stuffed rabbit today that’s pretty adorable. Any baby would love that, plus it’s from Mum Herself.” Amy said with a wink.

...

After the day of the baby shower, River found herself spending time in the nursery quite often, puttering arounds with things here and there, or reading one of her own books in the glider chair. She felt comfortable in the room, and hoped that the baby also would once it was born.

While she was reading aloud from one of her archeology books, the baby kicked out so strongly that it went toppling from her hands. She sighed deeply and massaged the area where she’d been hit. “Didn’t like that one much did you, my darling? I’m sorry, but I happen to find it interesting, even if I know that it’s all completely wrong -benefits of being a time traveller.” She smiled when she felt a strong push against her palm. “I could tell you other stories. Where should we start?” She thought for a moment, before beginning one of countless tales that would involve her parents, herself, all of time and space, and a mad man with a box.


	8. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright lovelies, I've been working on this story since last July, and this chapter has been ready for so long! I worried that if I nit-picked it anymore, I'd rewrite it all.  
> And also the finale might kill me ded with feels, sink ships, and make me shake my fists and go "MOFFAT".  
> So I hope you enjoy, and thank you so much for reading! God bless us everyone tomorrow. D:

* * *

The day soon came where River, Amy and Rory would be sent off to a small house supplied by the Sisters of the Infinite Schism. Assuming that River’s pregnancy would be the same length as a humans would, she would arrive two weeks before her estimated due date, and be met by the guards from Stormcage. Amy had seen River handcuffed by guards a long time ago, but it hadn’t affected her like it did on this occasion. One took out a set of handcuffs, while another moved to stand behind her and took the safety off his gun. River obediently held out her arms and walked with them silently to the house.

The Governor of Stormcage had sent a representative to the hospital at River’s last appointment. She explained River was to be fitted with a tracking bracelet upon arrival, in order to make sure she didn't go running off.

“Sit.” The guard who had handcuffed her said, as he reached into his utility belt and pulled out the bracelet.

“I’m going to need help.” She said and looked over at the guard who held the gun. Amy noticed he looked quite young. The man flicked his eyes to the other, wordlessly asking permission to help her. The other made a grunt of agreement, and the young guard holstered his gun so he could help River, who smiled at him in thanks.

The older guard uncuffed her, and said, “Hand.” River held out her hand and winced when he pricked her finger, then smeared the blood onto the small device. The bracelet began to shrink down to the size of her wrist when it was slipped over her hand. River placed her bleeding finger in her mouth when no tissue was offered to her.

“Right, then. That will stay on your wrist until you are returned back to your cell. I wouldn't try to escape while it's on -it won't be pretty.”

The guards left them, and Amy turned to her daughter. “Are you okay, River?”

“Fine. A bit lightheaded from the finger prick, but it’ll go away soon.”

“Who's the younger guard? He seemed like an actual human who cared that you are also a human.”

“His name is Harry.” she inspected the bracelet, "Not the prettiest jewelry I've ever worn, but at least it's not uncomfortable."

"I can't believe they put that on you!" Amy seethed. "Honestly, like you're some sort of-"

"Criminal?" River offered with a soft smile. "Don't let it bother you too much. I give as good as I get."

...

With nothing more to occupy her time in the house, Amy fussed over River, attempted to make her meals, and tidied up while she napped. Rory tried to distract his wife by coaxing her and River out on excursions. River didn’t feel like going out as often as they did -she was starting to feel every pound, and particularly un-pretty. It was a feeling that wasn’t helped by an innocent joke from Jack when he came for a visit three weeks later.

"You look fit to burst, my dear." Jack said as he hugged River.

"I feel fit to burst. Come in."

He scanned the room as River sat down on the couch. "Amy and Rory aren't here?"

"No. Amy's going to take the countertop off if she cleans any more. Rory took her out to give her something to do, and stop her fussing over me.

"I brought wine for them." He put the bottle on the coffee table. River looked at it wistfully. "Soon, baby girl." He smiled as he sat next to her on the couch and put an arm around her shoulder. “I mean... you could have a small glass now, I won’t tell. It’s supposed to be okay.”

“As much as I’d love that, I think one glass would knock me on my ass. I can’t drink that much at the best of times.”

“That's so weird to me! You look like a woman who can away some drinks. I’m a little disappointed, to be honest.” He watched her place a hand on her stomach. "How is Jack Jr.?"

"I don't think either one of us is very comfortable anymore." She said taking his free hand in hers and placing it on a spot where the baby was pressing relentlessly

"You poor thing. Come out, already!" He directed the last statement at her stomach, and she smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. "No sign of anything at all?"

"An occasional contraction. Rory guesses in the next few days. Amy seems to think any moment."

"And you?"

"Hopefully soon. I am ready for it to be over... but I'm not." Jack smiled understandingly. "I just want to hold my baby."

"You're going to be such a good mom." Jack squeezed her shoulder gently.

River snorted and ran a hand down the length of her stomach, "Yeah, I'll be nominated for Mother of the Year in prison."

Jack cocked his head and gave her a hard look, "You’ll be fantastic. And everything will work out."

She let out a deep sigh and shifted uncomfortably, "I guess we'll see."

"We will. And you'll see how amazing you are." he pulled her closer to him and pressed a kiss to her hair. She turned her head to look at him, and he saw the uncertainty and sadness in her eyes. Jack cupped her cheek with his hand and stroked her jaw with his thumb. He didn’t have much time to react as River leaned forward and kissed him.

For a moment he let desire overcome him and kissed her back, but then reality crashed around him when she caressed his bottom lip with her tongue. He pulled away quickly and leaned his forehead against hers, “River, as much as I’d love to kiss you senseless, I can’t.” He watched as her face fell, and a blush crept up her neck. He picked up her hand and pressed it to his lips briefly. “You are so beautiful, and smart, and sexy... but I can’t make a move on a woman when she’s carrying her husband’s child, no matter how much I want to.”

She let out a a huff, “My husband? I haven’t seen my husband in almost two months, and before that I hadn’t seen a version of him who loved me like I love him since he invited me to Utah -and it wasn’t even actually him! It was a robot!” She pushed herself up with some effort, and crossed the room to angrily pick up her diary. “I can’t keep living my life waiting for him! I’m lonely and need someone.” She bumped into the side of an armchair as she walked past, and pounded on it with her fist, irritated that she was so clumsy lately. “God! I’m huge and hormonal, and it’s his fault, and I can’t even yell at him about it!” She threw the diary and Jack winced as the already cracked spine sounded like it received another battle scar. “Dammit.” River said quietly and rubbed her forehead. Jack picked up her diary and inspected the newest crack. He handed it to River, who accepted it, then reached out for him. He took her in his arms and rubbed soothing patterns on her back. “I’m sorry.” she said finally.

“Me too.”

...

Jack stayed the night, feeling badly for turning River down. He figured she was feeling like she was at the end of her rope, so he let her curl up in his arms best she could, and held her. They’d slept in the same bed before, and he’d guessed she suffered from nightmares, as she sometimes woke him with a noise or two. This night she whimpered and moaned in her sleep, and he wasn’t quite sure why until the next morning when she got out of bed and walked slowly and heavily to pull on a sweater. She let out a sigh and turned around to face him with a frown.

“What’s wrong?”

“This is probably the last thing you want to do right after you wake up, but would you mind rubbing my back? It aches.” She closed her eyes in discomfort and brought a hand up to support her lower back.

“Of course.” She carefully crawled back onto the bed and he helped her get comfortable, before beginning to gently massage her back. She dozed lightly while he rubbed soothing circles on her back, but couldn’t fall into a deep sleep as the pain didn’t completely ease with his ministrations. Eventually she decided a shower might be more of a help and thanked him for his efforts.

“Anytime, babes. I actually have a doctor’s appointment to get to in the cafeteria." River quirked an eyebrow at him, "It's with a very handsome doctor. Off the books.” He smirked, “I’ll be back later.” He hesitated before kissing her cheek softly.

River spent some time walking around the small garden outside, hoping the movement would help her back. No matter how much she wanted to lie down, she knew exercise was good for her and her baby, so she decided a nap could wait until later that afternoon.

Unfortunately, this nap had to be the most unsatisfying one she had ever taken in her life. Whenever she would finally start to doze off, when she’d get a cramp, or her hips would hurt, or her back would ache again. She had hoped a heating pad would help to relax the spasms, but she figured she was asking too much at a week past her due date. At the very least, the soft blanket and heating pad were creating a warm cocoon for her to rest in.

She must have drifted off into an actual sleep for a while, because she woke to a wrenching pain seizing her back. She drew in a sharp breath and brought her hand up to massage the spot. Frustrated, she slowly sat up and got out of bed rather ungracefully.

She grabbed her diary and attempted to get her feelings down on paper to avoid a teary meltdown. She thought bitterly for a moment about the baby she was carrying; sure there wasn’t much room to move around in, but she suspected she was much more uncomfortable than her child. Unable to sit still, she closed the blue diary and decided to get up again.

Pain worse than any other spasm she had had yet gripped her, spreading from her back around to the front of her abdomen. She gasped, clutching at the duvet until the uncomfortable clenching passed. She released the breath she was holding and looked at her watch, both hoping and fearing that this might be it.

Another pain came and went, and she thought she had best go and find Rory, and see what he thought.

“Two pains seven minutes apart? That sounds promising. Just try and stay relaxed." he said when the color seemed to drain from her face. "Want to go and make sure all the baby’s things are ready? It’ll be good for you to keep your mind occupied.”

In between the spasms, River and Rory unpacked the things they had brought along for the baby. River looked at the tiny pajamas in her hand and suddenly dissolved into tears, causing Rory to look up from putting sheets onto the cot’s tiny mattress.

“What’s the matter? What’s wrong?” He quickly abandoned his task and went to her side.

“I don’t think I’m ready.” She replied tearfully. “Look how small this is,” she held the tiny garment in one hand out to Rory, “and I don’t know anything about babies, or how to be a good mother.” she sobbed.

“You’ll learn just like every new parent does, and you’ll be brilliant. You love her so much already -that’s the most important thing, isn't it? The rest will come naturally.”

River smiled through her tears, and ran a hand across her stomach, “Her?” She was reminded of the time the Doctor had referred to the baby as ‘she’.

“Amy and I might have a little bet going.”

“You could tell the baby’s gender in the ultrasounds, couldn’t you?”

“Spoilers?”

“You can tell me, I’m going to find out soon enough.”

“Really? Ruin the surprise so close to the finish line?”

“I’ve waited long enough. I’m going to need something to get me through this.”

“It’s a girl. I’ve known for a few months.” River smiled at the news.

“Cheater.” she said, as she rubbed a hand across the low curve of her belly and took a deep breath against the building pressure. She winced and took drew a sharp breath as the contraction built.

Rory rubbed a hand up and down her back until the pain subsided, “Try not to hold your breath, it will help.”

“How much worse is it going to get?”

“Everyone’s different, but I think the general consensus is that there’s pain. Unless you want the drugs.”

“No.” River said with surprising force. “No drugs.”

“Are you sure? They’re not bad for you, or the baby.”

“Amy woke up one afternoon in labor, and had give birth without any help. I want to do this naturally, too.”

Rory felt a surge of pride and love as he looked at River’s determined face, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Okay. But if you start to panic or something-”

River shook her head, “If I’m allowed to listen to what my body needs me to do, I won’t panic. Probably.”

“What if you start asking for them?”

“I hope you have the willpower to say no to your daughter.”

Rory laughed. “Yeah, me too. You don’t have your gun, do you?”

...

River paced back and forth in the living room, stopping every few minutes as pain shot through her body. Amy was cleaning for something to take her mind off things, and Rory and the midwife chatted while keeping an eye on River.

"It's interesting how much things have changed, but also stayed the same." he said as the older woman showed him one of the medical handbooks she always carried with her.

"It is! There are some things I'm sure I would hate to be without in your time. Unfortunately for your daughter, natural birth is still... well, painful." she said with a look of sympathy at River.

"Anyone for some tea?" Amy popped in, her hair piled on top of her head and sleeves rolled up past her elbows. "River, can I get you anything?" she asked gently.

River shook her head as she leaned on the couch and breathed through a contraction.

"I'm alright for now, dear." the midwife said as she reached for one of the tools on the table, "I do want to check your progress as soon as you're ready, Dr. Song."

...

Jack came by after his date, and was not only surprised that River was in labor, but that she'd progressed so far already. He stayed for a bit before deciding to try and find a room close by, explaining that if her labor went long into the night they could all take turns resting, eating, and helping River. He gave River an encouraging hug and kiss before going to rest up.

Rory and Amy hadn't known what to expect when the time came for their daughter to give birth, but she had impressed them so far with the way she was handling everything. She was tired, hungry, and in a fair amount of pain, but she was retreating into her own world, and letting her body tell her what to do. She didn't stop moving around the flat and Amy finally convinced her to take a bath.

While the midwife and Amy stayed with River, Rory sat in the living room, hoping to rest for a while. He was nodding off when he heard a familiar noise.

Thinking he was imagining things he slowly got up and walked toward the window.

"No." he was suddenly wide awake and clambered toward the door and threw it open. He stood agape in the doorway.

"Rory the Roman!" The Doctor threw his arms out in exclamation, "How are you? Still got your sword?"

"Uh, yeah. I mean -not on me at the moment. What are you doing here?" 

"The TARDIS takes me where she wants, doesn't she? I could ask you the same thing. Taking your nursing to the, what is this?" he tasted the air, "the 51st century?"

Rory didn't have any witty comeback, and couldn't bring himself to say 'Spoilers', so he chose to use the Doctor's first rule. "Yeah. I met someone at the clinic, and it turns out they're a time traveller and they're just showing me around. So... Yeah."

The Doctor was momentarily taken aback at Rory's obvious lie, "Are you alright?"

"Fine. Everything's good. I've, er, got to go back inside though. It was good seeing you. Please stop by and see Amy and I sometime if you can." he awkwardly waved and retreated back into the flat.

The Doctor stared at the closed door and wondered what Rory was _really_ doing there. He turned to head back down the path towards his ship, and was pondering the look on Rory's face, when his stomach dropped with a sudden realization: River must be in there having their baby.

...

“She’s all warm and dry. Could you help her walk back to bed, please?” The midwife asked. “I think everything'll go rather quickly now. Amy and I will get the bedroom ready for her.”

“Great. Yeah, I’ll go get her.” Rory said from the couch and made the short trek upstairs to help River.

She was alone in the bathroom, leaning on the wall with one hand, while the other supported her belly. She was breathing heavily and Rory rushed forward when it looked like her knees would buckle. “I’ve got you -lean on me and breathe.” Working with the small window before another contraction started, Rory picked River up and out of the bath. She let out a small sound of protest and was momentarily jarred back to reality.

“You’ll hurt yourself.”

“I have to lift people all the time at work.” He placed her gently back onto her feet, “And besides, I’ve got to live up to that Roman soldier thing every once in a while.” She had no time to respond as a surprisingly strong contraction caught her off guard, and she let out a cry of pain. “It’s alright.” He quickly pulled her to him and helped her to rock side to side, “Try and relax against it.” She made a long low moan, and balled her fist around the shoulder of his shirt. “That’s my girl, you’re doing great.”

“I need the Doctor.”

“Okay, let me get you to bed and I’ll go get her.”

She shook her head, “My Doctor.” Her voice sounded small.

With a stab of guilt, Rory thought of the Doctor he had closed the door on a few hours ago. “I know.” He continued to help River move, and absently patted her back.

“I would love to tell him how much I hate him right now.” She groaned as she endured yet another contraction.

Rory couldn’t help but laugh, and said, “I know that, too.” When her contraction passed he said, “He'd probably be flailing and jabbering away if he was here, don’t you think? We should get you to bed, I think you’ll probably feel like pushing soon.” She looked at him with tired eyes, “That means it’s almost over.” He smiled at her and took most of her weight as he steered her towards her bedroom.

...

“Almost there!” The midwife said encouragingly.

“Ohh, River, you’re doing so well. You’re going to feel so good when this is done.” Amy said, as she rubbed River’s hand with her thumb.

River felt the all-too-familiar pressure signaling her to push. She would have never guessed giving birth would come this instinctually, but letting her body tell her what to do seemed to have worked for the best. She fell back into Rory’s supporting arms when the wave ended and ran a hand across her belly.

The baby would be here soon, and that’s when things would get complicated. Her child was safe inside of her for precious few moments, and she was trying to remember every last second of how it felt.

Several pushes later with the encouragement of Amy, Rory and the midwife, River summoned every ounce of strength in her, and pushed with all her might. All at once, relief washed over her as the midwife pulled out her medical scanner to check the conditions of both mother and child instantly.

“Good job, River! You did it!” Amy exclaimed as she smoothed damp hair from her daughter’s face. River smiled tiredly and looked down at the tiny newborn, trying out her lungs for the first time with some fairly loud cries.

“Dr. Song, meet your new daughter.” The midwife placed the now blanketed baby into River’s waiting arms and smiled down at the woman. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” River stroked the baby’s face and hands, “Hello, my love.” she said quietly as small fingers gripped hers with surprising strength. She felt the prick of tears, and cradled the baby closer, placing a kiss on her forehead, then rested the bridge of her own nose against her child's face. “It’s about time you got here, little one.”

“She’s beautiful, River.” Amy said as she reached out to gently touch a rosy cheek with the back of her finger. “You’re a Pond woman, alright.” she cooed at the baby.

“Excuse me! If you remember, I was once called ‘The Pretty One’.” Amy laughed as Rory wrapped an arm around River, “I’m so proud of you. You were one of the best I’ve ever seen in labor.”

“I think you’re just saying that.”

“Not at all.” He placed a kiss among her curls and squeezed her arm.

“What are you thinking of naming her?” River had been fairly vague whenever she had been asked what names she was thinking of. She had held onto an irrational hope that the Doctor would have been with her at the time of the baby’s birth to help with the naming.

“I’m really not sure yet. We have to get to know each other a bit, don’t we?” She smiled down at the grey-green eyes that were intently studying her own. She stroked her feathery hair. She never wanted to let go of this precious baby.

She eventually passed her to Amy, who held her carefully to herself. “She’s so tiny.”

River laughed lightly, “She didn’t always feel that tiny.”

“Her father is a lanky gangly thing, so it’s only fitting that she inherit that. Think she might get as tall as her Gran?” Amy pulled back the blanket to look at her limbs, which did look like they would be long. The baby whimpered and Amy quickly wrapped her up again. “Sorry, darling.” She and Rory cooed over the baby and took turns holding her. River smiled, imagining how they must have looked as brand-new parents to her when she was a baby.

...

A while later, the baby began to fuss. River looked alarmed.

Amy put a hand on River's arm encouragingly, "It's okay. You've got this."

"The midwife will walk you through everything. Grandma and Grandpa are going to go pass out in an alley somewhere." said Rory with a yawn.

Amy turned to take a last glance at her daughter and old friend, and noticed that she looked like a scared child holding onto a baby doll. She felt compelled to cross the room and pull her into a hug.

"Don't be scared. You'll be an amazing mum." She pressed a quick kiss into her hair and gently brushed the newborn's cheek before leaving.

River let out a heavy sigh and felt the midwife's gentle hand on her shoulder. Several frustrating minutes later the baby stopped fussing and finally latched on. River studied her face while she ate. She was so small and delicate looking that it seemed she could break at the slightest touch, but she held into River's offered finger with an unexpected and comforting strength. River cradled her daughter closer and suddenly felt overwhelmed.

"How is it possible to feel so much love for someone you've only just met?" she asked.

The midwife looked up from packing her equipment and smiled, "You've spent a lot of time with her; you know her better than anyone else. She loves you, too."

River ran her thumb gently over the small hand. It was nice to have someone who didn't know or care what she had done in her past. The baby didn't know anything other than she was loved by her mum, her grandparents, her lovable roguish Uncle Jack, and by her mad, time traveling father who was (unbeknownst to River) on the same planet at the same time as her.

The Doctor had dozed off once or twice on the bench a little ways from the house where River was staying, and occupied himself by writing in his journal. When he finally saw someone exit the house he jumped up from the bench and walked over.

"Hello there!"

"Hello. Can I help you?" The midwife shifted her bag from one hand to the other, and looked at the young man in a bow tie with curiosity.

"Yes, please! That woman in there, the one who's just given birth... uh, Doctor Song?"

"You know Doctor Song?"

"Of course. We're old friends, have a look." he pulled out the psychic paper and the midwife saw what she thought was a recent picture of River, Amy, Rory and the Doctor. “I brought this for her -have to pop to the gift shop for a frame and some flowers. Can you tell me how she's doing?"

"She's tired, obviously, but mother and baby are doing just fine. She was a little overwhelmed at first, but she's fed the baby and now they're bonding and resting."

"Did she do alright... how was she during labor?"

"She did beautifully. Really wonderful."

The Doctor sighed internally, grateful that she hadn't been panicked during the birth. He wondered how much of a hindrance or help he could have been to her. "And the baby?"

"She's perfect."

"A girl?" His hearts sang, and the midwife smiled, beginning to sense that the Doctor might be closer to River than he was letting on.

The Doctor wanted nothing more than to run inside and see his girls. "That -that's so wonderful." he felt dizzy with happiness. "Thank you for telling me. Best get to the little shop and find some things for the new mother." He shook her hand and walked off feeling rather dazed.

...

River was laying on her side with her finger clasped in the small grip of her daughter's. She felt herself giving into sleep when she heard a soft knock at her door. "Amy and I are going to go get some dinner. What can we bring you back?"

"Anything is fine."

"Are you sure? We'll get you whatever you want."

"At this point I'm really so tired I could eat the food from Stormcage, and go to sleep happy."

"Alright then, back in a bit. If you need anything at all, even if it's little and silly, please call us."

"Of course. Thank you."

The Ponds had been gone for a few minutes when River heard the front door open and close again. Figuring one of them had forgotten something, she let her body relax and smoothed her hand down the baby's belly. She let out soft grunts and sighs that made River smile even in her exhausted state.

"River?" She relished the place between sleep and dream, when the subconscious was almost controllable. She knew she would dream about the Doctor and wake up feeling lonely for him, but for now she was content to dream. "River?"

She jumped, brought back to consciousness with a start, and felt ready to tear apart an intruder with her bare hands. "River?" The voice was outside her door and she felt the urge to get up and defend herself leave.

"Doctor?"

"May I come in?"

"Yes, you may." The door opened slowly and she felt her stomach fill with butterflies, "You came."

"Of course -you're the child of the TARDIS. She knew to take me here."

"She knew I needed you."

The Doctor crossed the room to look into the cot. "Oh my! Hello, beautiful." His hearts swelled with pride and love as he looked down at his daughter. "Can I hold her?" River nodded and let out a quiet laugh when the Doctor flailed his full hands around, before setting a bouquet of flowers and a box down on the bedside table. He carefully reached down and scooped up the baby, his large hands cradled her safely to his body.

River carefully pushed herself into a sitting position and grabbed the hem of his tweed jacket, pulling him to sit on the edge of the bed facing her. She ran her hand up and down his thigh as he studied his daughter's face. "She is perfect. Well done." He looked up at River and leaned in to kiss her. "You're so gorgeous." He kissed her again and pushed back a few stray curls that had escaped from her ponytail. “How do you feel?”

"Exhausted."

"I would assume so. She is so beautiful, River."

"Her father is pretty good looking."

"She probably got it all from her mother -she's devastatingly beautiful." He smiled when she blushed at his words. He leaned forward to kiss her again, “What did you name her?”

“I haven’t settled on something yet. I like Haven for her first name, but now that you’re here, you should have some say.”

“I rather like that name. Is that it? Haven Song?”

“You pick a middle name.” She slipped her hand inside his jacket and rested it above his hipbone.

The Doctor looked down at the tiny baby and tried to listen to her thoughts. They were a bit jumbly and drowsy, swirling around ‘mummy’, ‘warm’, ‘love’ and other sweet things, but she opened her eyes at him and they became more focused. “What do you think, Haven? Do you like that? What shall we pick for your middle name? Give me a hint, will you? Mummy put me on the spot.”

“What are you doing?” River asked fondly.

“I want to give her the opportunity to give her two cents.”

“Can she even form coherent thoughts yet, sweetie?”

“Of course she can! She’s brilliant!” He cradled her closer and kissed her soft warm forehead. “Haven Jessica Song. Perfect for the daughter of two time-traveling, timey-wimey people. She likes it because it reminds her of her Gran, don’t you?”

...

The Doctor cradled Haven in one arm, while the other wrapped around River as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I usually get bored letting time pass normally, but I quite like this." he murmured sleepily into her hair. "If only there was a way to make it work all the time."

"Let's not talk about that, sweetie, and just enjoy now." She slid her hand up his chest and let it rest over a steady heartbeat.

"I wish I’d been here when she was born." He said as he gently rocked his daughter.

River laughed, "No you don't. I probably would have said some awful things to you."

"The midwife said you were brilliant."

"Rory said that, too. I think they're being very kind to me. It was worse than regeneration."

"And more drawn out." He shuddered and looked down at Haven, "I want you to always be grateful to your mum for that." Haven started to fuss. "She's hungry. Or needs a change? Or something. She's just feeling a bit frustrated. Newborn thoughts are so jumbly." The Doctor allowed River to take the baby from his hands and watched her cradle their daughter.

"You're frustrated? What have you got to be frustrated about?" River asked softly. At this, Haven began to cry. "Ohh, I'm sorry darling." She brought the blanket tighter round the baby and gently shushed her. The Doctor watched his wife intently, loving seeing her so maternal. He was was wondering if perhaps River was able to speak baby when she suddenly started to pull her top down.

"Oh, what are you doing?" He quickly fidgeted uncomfortably.

"She might need a feed. You aren't embarrassed, are you?"

"Well, I wasn’t expecting you to just whip your top off. I'm not embarrassed, they're lovely. It's just strange that they're... food things. Things for milk. And not for fun."

She laughed, "For the moment, at least." She leaned against him as Haven ate and relished feeling completely at peace for the first time in a long time.

The Doctor walked Haven around the room when she had finished eating, and she fell into a sound sleep in his arms. When he placed her in her cot, he turned his attention to the long forgotten flowers and present.

"These are for Haven." He placed them in a vase he found in the bedside cabinet and then handed River the box. "And this is for you."

River took the small parcel and opened it slowly.

"Ohh, sweetie." she breathed as she pulled out a thin diamond bracelet.

"I figured this could mark time. If you're wearing this I’ll know we have a child together without having to ask and risking spoilers.” He smiled. “That would be a pretty big spoiler to accidentally give a younger you.”

"Yes it would." She leaned forward and pulled him in for a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you." He replied as he clasped the bracelet for her.

“Thank you, sweetie, it's beautiful.” She kissed him again, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him to lay down beside her.

“Will you stay with me for a while longer?”

“What if Amy and Rory come back?” he asked. She pulled him closer to her, and he knew he would be too comfortable and happy to leave.

“Pretend you’re younger? You’ll think up some clever lie.” She let a hand run through his hair, knowing it would make him sleepy and more apt to stay.

“You are quite right, my dear.” He rested his head atop hers and welcomed the waves of drowsiness as they crashed over him.

 ...

Hours later while River and the Doctor slept happily, Amy was pacing in another room while Rory tried to settle.

“She said she wouldn’t tell him she was pregnant because of foreknowledge, so which Doctor is that? Should I go in there and do something?”

“Amy, can you sit down for a second?” She finally took his suggestion and sat down on the side of the bed. Rory rubbed her back while he spoke, “Let’s not worry about that right now. Wherever the Doctor is in his time stream, he’s with River and their baby right now. That’s all that matters, isn’t it? River needed him, and he is. You can ask her about it later, but for now let’s just get some sleep. Right now the only thing we should be worrying about is resting up so we can help take care of a newborn.”

Amy sighed heavily and flopped down next to Rory. “You’re right. But if the Doctor is still here when I wake up, I’m going to talk to him. He owes me an explanation, too, knocking my daughter up and not coming to say anything!” Rory laughed and pulled her to him, “Should I tell her that we know he’s alive? That an older version of herself told us?”

“I dunno. All this timey-wimey stuff gets harder and harder. Did she tell us because we told her we know, or did she genuinely throw us that spoiler?” He sighed and brought his hand to his temple. “This always does my head in. Oh, by the way, I believe I won the bet -it’s a girl.”

“I don’t owe you anything, you cheat. Better luck next time.” she said tiredly as she snuggled into his arms and fell into a satisfying sleep.


	9. Nine

River was jolted awake when she heard her baby crying. _This is going to take some getting used to_ , she thought as she untangled herself from her husbands groggy limbs.

“You stay put, I’ll get her.” His voice was thick with recent sleep as he lifted Haven out of her cot, gently shushing her and holding her close.

River was a bit surprised that a man who could barely go up the stairs without mishap, could be so confident changing a newborn right after waking, but he did better than she would at the moment. So much of this felt overwhelming to her, and she knew there were certain things that would take some practice.

Feeding was one of those things; she’d done it twice before, but she and Haven were still learning. In her sleep deprived state, River let out a small whimper of frustration as she and Haven struggled. She felt the Doctor wrap an arm round her to rub soothing circles on her back while she tried to help her baby, who fussed and balled her tiny fists. Finally there was success, and leaned back into her husband’s arms with a sigh of relief. She had never been so happy that he hardly needed any sleep to function.

“I’m so glad you’re here.”

He moved the hand that was still tracing circles on her back to her waist and smiled as River let her eyes slide closed. “Me too.”

...

Soft noises slowly lifted her from sleep. She lay with her eyes shut, letting her ears adjust to whatever she was hearing. The Doctor was cradling Haven in an armchair in the corner of the room, talking to her in a lost language he hadn’t spoken to anyone in ages. River watched the two of them and smiled as he shifted Haven to lay on his chest and kissed her head. They looked so wonderful together.

The Doctor looked up when River sighed, and smiled at her. “Good morning, dear.”

“Good morning.”

He stood and walked over to the bed, quietly saying to Haven, “Look who’s up, little one,” he passed her to River, “your mummy.” River kissed Haven’s forehead and snuggled her close.

“You look so beautiful holding her.” the Doctor observed, and River smiled up at him.

“I was thinking the same thing about you.”

He was just about to lean forward to kiss her good morning when a knock on the door interrupted them. His eyes went wide and he looked quickly round the room, stood and spun in a confused circle, before wordlessly asking River what to do. She quirked an eyebrow at his panic, and then heard Jack’s voice coming through the door. “River, are you up?” The Doctor’s eyes narrowed, trying to place the voice he knew didn’t belong to Rory or Amy. 

“Yes, just a minute.” She looked at the Doctor and motioned for him to sit on the bed.

Jack opened the door, carrying a tray with breakfast on it, and stopped in his tracks when he saw the Doctor. “Well, well, well. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

The Doctor wrung his hands together before getting to his feet. “Yeah, it's been a while, hasn’t it? It’s good to see you, Jack.”

Jack set the tray on the bed. “You too, Doctor. Get over here and embrace me, you fool.” The Doctor walked to Jack and allowed himself to be pulled into a hug. “It’s just like you to steal the attention away from your wife and new baby.”

“It wasn’t my intention.”

“Yeah sure.” Jack inspected the Doctor's face, “You changed into a child who dresses like an old man?” He cheekily ran his finger up the man’s torso to his bow tie, causing the other man to squirm and swat at the offending digit.

“Oi! You know all the kids are doing it! It's hip! I'm a trendsetter.” He looked over his shoulder at River for help, but she merely smiled at him before turning her gaze to the breakfast tray.

Jack walked around to her, so he could kiss her cheek, “Congratulations, beautiful.” He pulled back to look at Haven, who had opened her eyes and was gazing curiously at him. “She’s perfect! Hello pretty girl.” He reached out to touch her tiny hand. “How do you feel, River?”

“Surprisingly good. Hungry, though.”

“Trade you a tray of breakfast to hold that baby.” She smiled and passed Haven over. “She’s so little. It seemed like she was going to be bigger.”

River paused mid-chew, a slight smile shining in her eyes, “No, that was just me.”

“No -I -I just-” he sighed and looked at Haven, “you were complaining about your back and everything, so I just assumed that she was going to be bigger. I should just stop because I’m insulting both of you.” River reached out to squeeze his shoulder fondly before picking up a fork and starting in on a plate of scrambled eggs.

She looked over at the Doctor and smiled, “Are you going to sit down, sweetie?” He had been captivated watching her steal glances at her new daughter in between bites of food, so he made his way over to sit with her on the bed.

“So Doctor, last time I saw you you were traveling with that woman, Donna. What a firecracker!”

Jack didn’t notice the Doctor cast his gaze down on the bed, since his attention was fixed on Haven, but River did and ran a hand up his back soothingly. “Yeah, she was -well, is. Good friend, that one.” He pushed away the feeling of guilt, choosing instead to try and focus on happy memories and joy, especially considering his new reason for happiness was in the room.

The three adults laughed, caught up, and fawned over the baby as she delighted them with coos and gurgles. Jack explained that he had set Amy and Rory up in his rented room so they could rest for the day, and offered to help River in their stead. River was happy with the arrangement, as it meant her husband could stay with her a while longer.

Eventually River left them to shower and take some time to collect herself, which left the boys and the baby to make some lunch.

“Jack,” the Doctor said as he watched the other man make grilled cheese sandwiches, “I want to thank you for being here for River when I wasn’t. I’m glad she had someone to chat with and make her feel happy.”

“She’s a great girl, Doctor. You are one lucky old man.” He winked as he flipped over a perfectly golden-brown sandwich. “It was my pleasure to spend time with her.”

The Doctor felt two hands snake around his waist, and turned his head to see River rest her head against his shoulder. He cradled Haven in one arm, and slid his other hand down to cover River’s. “Enjoy your shower?”

“Immensely.” Her damp curls tickled the Doctor’s neck when she looked at the growing stack of sandwiches. “I can’t remember the last time I ate a grilled cheese.”

“Then you’re in for a treat. I used the best cheese and bread I could find.” He tossed the last sandwich on the full plate, and carried it over to the kitchen table where a salad and a pot of tomato soup were already waiting.

 ...

The Doctor started clearing up after lunch. Jack brought the baby into the living room to retrieve a present he'd brought for her, leaving the new parents alone.

The Doctor was rinsing a glass when River came up behind him and pulled him around to face her. She wound her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder, “It feels good to be able to get close to you again.”

He smiled, and they stayed wrapped up in each other until Jack came back in with Haven “Come on, now, get a room.” He teased as Haven fussed quietly, “Check it out.” She was wearing a bib that said ‘I love my Uncle Jack', “Perfect time to be wearing one of these, because she just tried to nurse from me and now she's pissed.”

River smiled and let go of the Doctor to take her baby from Jack’s arms. “Thank you for the present, Uncle Jack. Shall we break it in, my baby?”

...

A while after Jack left, River and the Doctor both lay in bed with Haven in between them, and watched her sleep. After a long while River felt tears pricking her eyes. “I don’t know how I’m going to go back to Stormcage and leave her.”

The Doctor looked up at her and felt guilt crash around him -that thought hadn’t crossed his mind until now. “Come with me? Please. Nothing in the universe would make me happier.”

Sadness clouded her eyes as she lifted up her wrist to show him her tracker bracelet. “I can’t leave.” He took her wrist in his hand and inspected the bracelet. “I get a few weeks to rest before they come and collect me.”

“I’ll come get you every night.”

“I need to be there. I’m hoping that good behavior for a while will get me a meeting with the Governor to discuss trying for a pardon, or something.”

“But you don’t know how long that will take.”

“I don’t. But I think that if everything goes according to my plan, I’ll just come back and find her while she’s this small. She'll never know I was away."

A conflicted look crossed the Doctor’s face before he finally said, “Normally I’d be against that, but I know I can’t keep a mother from her child. I wouldn't want to keep you from our child.”

"Good luck stopping me." Determination flashed across her eyes, and a slight tingle ran down his spine at the brief glimpse of the trained assassin that lay dormant deep deep within.

...

River woke to the Doctor murmuring quietly to Haven. Blue-pink light was beginning to fill the room as she blinked back sleep and looked questioningly at her husband. He kissed and cuddled Haven once more before crossing to the bed to pass her off to River.

“Amy and Rory are back and sleeping in their room. I’ve got to run.” River opened her mouth to protest when he brought up a hand to caress her cheek. “I can’t see them, it’s for their own safety.” He kissed her soundly, using everything in him to ignore the pounding in his hearts and the heaviness that was settling in his stomach. “Listen, I’ll come back every night before you go back, alright?” She nodded, knowing full well he might miscalculate and not come at all.

“We’ll be waiting.” She gave an attempt at a smile, and pulled him to her for one more kiss.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He bent down to kiss Haven’s cheek and said quietly, “Bye, baby.” Then he was gone.

She had no time to process his departure, or to feel terribly sad, as Haven began to fuss. “It’s alright, little one, mummy’s here.”

...

True to his promise, the Doctor did came back every night.

River was exhausted, but having her husband around made waking in the night less terrible. He always got up to change her, soothe her, or bring her to River for a feed. He wanted to give Haven the feeling that he’d be there for her, even if she wouldn’t remember waking her parents in her first weeks of life.

Sometimes while Haven and River were both sleeping, he’d stay awake and watch over them. He had been taken the first time he’d seen River asleep -she always looked so peaceful and beautiful; now there was something about Haven that made the hours tick by. He was mesmerized by the movements of her tiny mouth, her eyelids moving as she dreamed, her soft noises, and her stretches and sighs. Every now and again he couldn’t help himself, and he’d carefully pick her up to hold her while she slept. He felt so at ease holding his sleeping baby daughter with his sleeping wife was curled up next to him.

...

River knew that once the baby was born, things would get complicated. It was going to be hard on her, her parents, and Haven to have her locked away thirty centuries into the future. The last few days before she returned to Stormcage were sad for everyone. River determined to give Haven as much quality time as she could before she left, and smothered her with every ounce of love and affection in her.

She didn’t sleep much the night before she was scheduled to leave, and tried her best not to break down in her daughter’s presence. At one point while the Doctor changed her into a new pajamas (after her second pair of the night met a messy end) and saw River trying desperately to keep herself from getting emotional. It was a brief glimpse behind the protective wall she’d spent a lifetime building. He carefully climbed into bed next to her, mindful to not jostle Haven too much as she was starting to doze off, and wrapped an arm around River. She rested against his shoulder, stroked Haven’s cheek, and was rewarded with a sleepy smile before the baby finally went to sleep. The Doctor felt his hearts constrict when dampness began to from near the collar of his shirt, and he heard a soft sniff. Wordlessly he shifted to allow River to take Haven from his arms, and they stayed unmoving until the sky began to slowly turn from black to deep blue to grey.

The Doctor kissed his daughter’s forehead, before kissing his wife soundly on the lips, and then leaving with one last look at his girls before he shut the bedroom door behind him and was gone.

The next morning two Stormcage guards proceeded the teleport that would take her back to prison. Somewhere in the back of River's mind, she tried to be thankful that one of the men was young Harry, who let her give Haven one last kiss and cuddle before they took her into their custody. River summoned every ounce of strength to remain composed while saying goodbye, and when the cold handcuffs were clasped on her wrists. She was aware of a faint countdown and watched as her family dissolved before her.

Before her eyes, her prison walls appeared around her, and her two escorts left her side to open her cell door. She knew the drill: step forward, hands through the vertical slot, handcuffs removed. The other guard left quickly, to report back to the Governor that River Song was back in her cell. Harry was stashing the handcuffs back in his utility belt, when River sank to the floor of her cell and let body wracking sobs overcome her. He knew she wasn't even aware he was still in the corridor, and had let her emotions overtake her.

The sound of her cries made him close his eyes and turn toward the wall; she deserved privacy, even though it was his guard shift. Painful though it was to silently be witness to her personal anguish, he sat in the shadows until she cried herself to sleep. He knew he was breaking conduct rules, but compassion made him open the door to her cell, pick the woman up off the floor, and carry her to her cot. There she slept through the night, yet woke up feeling drained and empty.

Days passed and River was crying herself to sleep every night, and picking at her food. To Harry it seemed that River was slowly losing the spirit and fight she once had, and he worried for her health and wellness. He snuck snacks to her from the guards mess hall, and she quietly accepted them, but didn't have an appetite for anything. She missed her daughter so much that there was a constant ache in her heart. She didn't know how to deal with that feeling yet, and was allowing herself to mope for the time being.

One afternoon she was writing in her diary when Harry showed up at her cell with a brand new guard. A part of her couldn’t help feeling a bit proud -he must have been promoted.

"Please put your hands through the slot, Dr. Song." He requested. Silently she got up from her cot and waited for the handcuffs.

"What is this for?"

"You're going to have a meeting with the Governor." He must have been trying to set a conduct example for the new guard with the simple answer, but the warmth in his eyes was betrayed the cooler demeanor.

"I didn't know I had a meeting with her."

The doors slid open and he said, "It was only arranged this morning."

...

"Hello Dr. Song. Have a seat." River was helped to the chair by one of the guards and looked at the Governor with tired eyes. "How have you been?" she asked, though the bags under River's eyes, the lack of color in her cheeks, and her mussed curls spoke for her.

"Honestly?"

"Of course."

"Miserable."

"I thought as much. You haven't been eating much, and you spend most of your time sleeping or crying. I am sorry that being away from your daughter is causing you such distress." At the mention of Haven, River felt her chest tighten, and closed her eyes against a wave of emotion. The Governor twirled her pen in between her fingers and contemplated her most infamous prisoner for a long moment. "I have some information that I think might be of interest to you."

“What's that?”

"I've spoken with the Clergy and they have a mission I think you would be quite keen to assist with."

River's eyes narrowed, "You want me to assist the Clergy?" she let out a hollow laugh, "Look at me, I can barely help myself right now. I wouldn't be an asset."

The Governor raised her eyebrows, "Well it’s a complicated mission that will require a lot of time and knowledge. Because of the involvement, it's being considered by the board of trustees as a catalyst towards reopening your case, and trying to bring you in for a parole trial."

"Excuse me?" This statement threw her completely, she wondered if she had in fact misheard.

"If that's what you want, of course."

"Yes. Yes it's what I want."

"I thought as much.” She studied River’s face for a moment, “What’s wrong?”

“I just wasn’t expecting this quite so soon.”

“You don’t have to take it.”

“No, no, I want it! Please. What am I going to be doing?”

“You will be met by a cleric called Father Octavian, and he'll tell you what they'll be needing from you. I can't tell you much more yet, I hope to know more in the next few days. Expect another meeting at that time. That’s all for now.” She tipped her head in closing at River.

River nodded in understanding and looked up at Harry, who held his hands out in silent request for her wrists. He carefully secured her handcuffs, helped her stand, and escorted her from the office back to her cell.

“I can’t believe this might really be happening.” she said after he’d dismissed the newest guard, and she pulled her now freed hands back into her locked cell.

“I think you’ve more than earned it, Dr. Song.” He said as he stored away the handcuffs.

"How? I've done nothing to make her want to give me an opportunity for parole. I break out, I harass the guards..."

"Had a baby."

"That, too."

"No, I mean, you have a baby. I bet that is a contributing factor."

"I'm not the first, or the last criminal to have a child."

"But you are here, if you can believe it. And you’ve been so torn up lately that I think it kind of helped to move things along with the Governor, to be honest.”

She cast her gaze down to the concrete floor, “I hope it didn’t seem like I was only acting that way in order to be released.”

Harry shook his head, “No. It was more than obvious that you were suffering being away from your daughter. It’s touching how much you love her.”

River smiled and reached her hand out to touch Harry’s cheek, “Harry, dear, please promise me you won’t make a career here. You’re far too sweet, and you deserve so much more.”

He briefly brought his hand up to cover hers, and nodded, “You know best.” He smiled, “I promise.”


	10. Ten

River was introduced to Father Octavian in a meeting room almost a full month after she’d met with the Governor. He’d stood politely when she was escorted into the room, but eyed her suspiciously as he took his seat.

“Doctor Song, I’m Father Octavian, Bishop Second Class. It’s a pleasure.”

“Father Octavian, I’m River Song, convicted murderer and psychopath.” A slight flush crept up his neck -she was willing to bet it was as much a pleasure for him to meet her as was going to the dentist.

“You know what," he looked at the guard standing behind him in the room, "could you take down the protective wall, please? It makes no sense for me to distance myself, seeing as Dr. Song and I will be working together.” The guard nodded and lifted the force field. River noticed he also unholstered his gun. She rolled her eyes. “So Dr. Song, I understand you’ve just had a baby girl. Congratulations. I hope I can aid in getting you home to her.”

He then began to dive into the details of what she’d be working on to earn her pardon.

It was basically glorified paperwork and research, but it occupied a good portion of her days, got her out of her cell, and kept her mind busy, so she threw herself into it. She wondered how much paper she’d have to push around to actually earn a reprieve from prison. She imagined it would be quite a lot. Maybe that was the rub.

One day she was given a mission that would actually see her liberated from Stormcage to work a team of clerics, and Octavian, to neutralize a dormant Weeping Angel. The prospect of the mission both scared and intrigued her. The angels were terrifying stuff of nightmares. She was briefed on the specifics of the mission by Octavian, then she threw herself into research.

She spent several weeks familiarizing herself with the man who had purchased the angel, the star liner he would be traveling aboard, the crew, and any other information she could find. She knew she was getting herself into a highly dangerous situation, and hoped knowledge would be one of her most invaluable weapons.

The night was finally upon her where she would masquerade as a passenger and find the buyer named Alistair who was under the impression that the angel was a dormant and valuable item for trading. How wrong he was.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to supply you with backup, Dr. Song?” Father Octavian asked.

“I’m a big girl, Father Octavian, you don’t need to worry about me.” she said as she checked her hair and makeup in a compact mirror. She slipped her hands down the black floor-length evening dress he’d given to her, to check that everything was in place.

“I’m trusting that you will keep to the plan, and call for help should you require it.”

“Absolutely.” she lied, knowing there was no way she could stick to the plan if she saw a different opportunity open up to her.

...

She quickly found Alistair and managed to coax him into buying her a drink (which she dumped out when she wasn’t looking) and after she’d made sure he’d drunk his, she dragged him onto the dance floor.

“I so enjoy a woman who takes the lead -I like getting taken for a ride.”

She let out a low chuckle, and went with an impulse to wrap her arms around his neck, “Well, then you might want to find something to hang onto.” And she thrust her hips toward him and was quite pleased when he groaned into her hair. She rolled her eyes as he ran his hand down her back. Money could give some people such nerve -he hadn’t even asked her name, but he felt he knew her well enough to grab her ass.

He pulled away abruptly and took hold of her wrist, to stop her playing with his hair. “How about I go get us another drink, and then we can continue where we left off in a more private place?”

“Don’t be too long.” she said silkily. The minute his back was turned sheslunk away through the crowd. With any luck, he’d spend too long trying to get a drink at that overcrowded bar, and then stumble around looking for her in the sea of dancing passengers.

She made her way down to his vault, dealt with the guard using her trusty hallucinogenic lipstick, and rewired the closed circuit camera to show her the inside. Success! She extracted a four second clip with her computer, popped off to find the ship’s home box, left a quick note for the Doctor, and she was off!

Briefly halted by an encounter with Alastair himself, she flung herself out of the ship and into the arms of the Doctor in the waiting TARDIS. Bless him, he’d gotten the coordinates correct. A look of shock crossed her face as they tumbled to the floor of the ancient ship and she got a good look into the face of a younger Doctor than she'd intended. She barely registered Amy’s slightly jealous ‘Doctor?’ when she pushed herself off the man and jumped to her feet, ordering him to follow the ship.

She hadn’t every met an Amy quite this young in her current regeneration. The Doctor introduced the two of them and referred to her as ‘Professor River Song’.

A thrill of excitement shot through her, “I’m going to be a Professor someday, am I?” She laughed partly at the Doctor’s reaction to letting this information slip, and partly with elation -she would earn her pardon after this mission! She would see Haven very soon.

Octavian was close to livid when she’d called to check their coordinates.

“What do you mean you’re at the _crash site?!_ The ship was _not_ supposed to crash!”

“Calm down, it wouldn’t have made it anyway, not with the angel draining the power.”

“And how exactly am I supposed to excavate a ruined ship with so few men, hmm? I would need an army.”

“Don’t get hysterical. I’m with the equivalent of an army.” She looked at the young Doctor over her shoulder just in time see him take a hard stumble over the uneven ground, while Amy let out a loud laugh.

“If _anything_ goes wrong on this mission-” Octavian began.

River felt anger surge through her, and cut him off, “I’m going to need you to trust me, alright?” She could tell she was going to have a tough enough time with the Doctor; the last thing she needed was Octavian getting on a high horse. In the past four days he’d started treating her more like a person and less like a murderer, and she couldn’t risk backtracking.

This younger version of the Doctor was interesting to come across after the one who had held and kissed her, and cradled their newborn baby girl. Oddly, this time it wasn’t painful interacting with him the way it had been while she was pregnant. This very young Amy was also quite fun for River to interact with. She was smarter than she knew, was quick to dismiss a great preening peacock display that the Doctor was prone to at this age, and quickly picked up on their future relationship of River and the Doctor. She pleasantly surprised her daughter.

 ...

River endured a roller coster of emotions on the mission. There were a few close calls with the angels, but the scariest moment came when Amy’s health was failing as an Angel tried to take over her mind. River feared not only for her mother, but for her own personal future. Time could be rewritten, and neither of them were immune; one mistake and River and Haven could cease to exist.

The biggest blow was the abrupt announcement of Octavian’s death. It was enough to knock the wind out of her, and she drove all questioning thoughts out of her head to focused on helping to temporarily sightless Amy Pond across a forest full of angels. She and the Doctor fought over the damaged teleport, and she couldn’t help the smugness that crossed her face when she finally got it working, and got Amy to them safely. 

Back on the beach, the remaining team members slapped River in handcuffs the moment she had emerged from the tunnels. For the first time, she felt embarrassed that the Doctor and Amy were seeing her like this. While the pair talked quietly as Amy recovered her bearings once again, River stood watching rolling waves as they lapped lazily at the rock and sand.

Was this it? Her one chance for a parole? What would happen when the prison ship came for her? Was she back at square one, and how long would she have to wait before an opportunity like this came around again? Only Octavian had seemed brave enough to take her on, and his rather obvious distrust of her made her think he had been worn down before finally agreeing.

The younger Doctor and Amy said their goodbyes, and River wasn’t sure why she did it, but she threw in a spoiler for good measure. Was it because that event lead up to her eventual birth? Or was it because she liked the Doctor to be on his toes with her? Probably both. It also took her mind off of feeling rather defeated, knowing that she was headed back to prison.

“Can I trust you, River Song?” the Doctor asked.

 _So young. So very, very young. Of course you can, you daft idiot._ “If you like,” she laughed, seeing his face, “but where’s the fun in that?” And she was gone, the prison ship materializing in front of her, whisking her back off to Stormcage. What greeted her was an odd sight.

“Hello, Dr. Song.” The Governor was smiling warmly at her. River stood rooted to the teleport pad as she felt a pair of hands on her wrist and looked into Harry’s eyes. He smiled and she looked at him questioningly as her wrists were freed. She looked from the young man to the Governor, silently asking what was going on.

“I’m guessing you’re a bit confused. That makes two of us, really.” The Governor walked slowly towards River, and held a folder of papers in her hands. “Would you like to sit?” She motioned to a pair of chairs, and River slowly stepped off the teleport and made her way over. “While you were being escorted from the wreckage of the ship through the catacombs, I was forced to pull up your file and make a note of the attempted and failed excursion. The man you equated to an army was the only one with Octavian when he died, so we did a background check.”

River’s breath caught in her throat, “And what did you find?”

“No records of any kind. There is no man in existence called ‘the Doctor’.”

River stared at her for a moment, “I don’t understand.”

“I didn't either, so we did some digging to find out more about your crime, and trial. There were some big hiccups, and cut corners in the hasty process to put you behind bars.” River could do nothing but stare at her in shock. “You are in prison for murder, yet the victim in question doesn’t exist. Why did you plead guilty?"

"I was. I killed the Doctor." she stared at the Governor.

"You didn't, though. I don’t know why or how, but there has been a mistake. After you’ve been officially pardoned in court, you will be free to lead your own life. So, Dr. Song, this is your final day in Stormcage.

The hasty pardon was issued by a grumpy looking man, who begrudgingly apologized for the years she’d spent in prison which she could never have back. She was escorted out of the room and into a small antechamber where the Governor was waiting. “Your record is expunged. You may begin a new life with your daughter. Your belongings are in that bag over there,” she motioned to a large rucksack laying a few yards away, “and best not forget this.” she held out the vortex manipulator, and put it in River’s hand. “You're a free woman, Dr. Song.”

River took the offered device and quickly gathered up the bag. With one last look at the woman who had just set her free, she typed in the coordinates for Amy and Rory’s house, anxious to see her daughter, and to get away before anyone could change their minds.

Just before she confirmed her coordinates and vanished she met Harry’s eyes and he smiled at her. Without thinking, she ran to him and threw her arms around him, and thanked him for all he’d done for her.

“Don’t mention it.” He said as he hugged her back tightly. “And I think you’ll be pleased to know, I put in my two weeks.” he whispered after.

“Good. You don’t want to spend a lifetime here, believe me.” She pulled back, and with one more fond look at the young man before her, she disappeared.

 ...

She landed in the living room and dropped her bag loudly to the floor. “Hello? Anyone here?” She called out.

She heard muffled footsteps rushing down the stairs and heard a rough, “Shhh!” Amy appeared in the living room with her fiery hair escaping from a bun, and bags under her eyes. “Rory and I just got Haven down. She’s been really cranky the past few days, and it’s been a struggle to get her to lay down for longer than an hour.”

“Can I see her?”

Amy looked up and down River’s camouflage uniform and wrinkled her nose, “Not in those dirty clothes. Where were you?”

“I just climbed out of the Byzantium. I've been given a pardon.” she felt as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and felt like she could cry with happiness as the full realization of what had happened settled.

“You what?” Amy’s face was a mixture of confusion and delight. She rushed forward to hug River and said, "River, that’s wonderful! Haven will be so happy to have her mum!” River hugged Amy back tightly. “Wait!” Amy’s shout startled the older woman, “The Byzantium? You need to go to see me! Me and Rory. Right after America."

"What? Now?"

"After you climbed out of the Byzantium you came and talked to me.”

“About what?”

“You just came to cheer your old mum up.”

"Can't it wait?" River’s heart ached; she desperately wanted to see her daughter, but the look on Amy’s face told her that this was important.

She obliged and arrived in a grieving Amy’s garden. She hadn’t intended to stay very long, but the joy on both Amy and Rory’s face when she told them the news filled her with happiness. Not to mention, Amy’s face when she realized that she was the Doctor’s mother-in-law was well worth it; River was happy that she could bring her mother out of her mourning. The two protested when she said she had to leave, but her desire to see Haven far outweighed this situation. She gave final hugs and took her leave, arriving back in the same garden a few years later.

“Back so soon?” Rory said as she walked back in to the kitchen. “You’ve been gone about fifteen minutes.”

“If you remember, I stayed a few hours with you two. I even ate dinner! I think that’s a rather appropriate amount of time to stay.” She said as she took off her camouflage coat and hung it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs and untucked her shirt from her pants.

“So you won’t be wanting to join us for dinner?” Amy asked, and River shook her head. “River, thank you so much, I know you really didn't want to go.”

“You knew all this time that the Doctor was alive... you should have said something.”

“I debated whether or not to tell you that you, but Rory and I didn’t know if it would mess things up. I was worried about what would happen to you, or to Haven.” She looked at the camouflage coat. “Go and shower. Haven might be up when you’re through.”

The hot water seeped into her skin, soothing her tired muscles, and washing the catacomb residue from her hair and body, and counted several impressive bruises. Once she was dry, she rummaged through her rucksack for a pair of sweatpants, and a top.

Quietly she made her way to her daughter’s room and peeked in. She was asleep, but her first was in her mouth. River thought she was probably dreaming about eating. River walked toward the cot and smoothed her hand down Haven’s belly, taking in the sight of her beautiful baby. Amy had warned her that she had been fussy lately, but River couldn’t help herself, and picked Haven up so she could cradle her to her chest. She was warm, tiny, and fit so perfectly in River’s arms. The woman breathed a sigh of relief and happiness.

She walked over the rocking chair and smiled when Haven nuzzled her face into the crook of her neck and snuffled against her. She was slowly waking up, and wrapped a fist around the strap of River’s top, bringing it to her mouth. Unsatisfied with the results Haven began making fussing noises that River knew would escalate if they went ignored. She kissed the side of Haven’s head as she shifted her in her arms to feed her. Haven studied River’s face while she ate.

“Hello, my darling. I’ve missed you so much.” Haven blinked big green eyes with long lashes at her mother, “Don’t tell anyone, but mummy cheated a bit with her vortex manipulator. I couldn’t bear missing too much of you being so small. Grandma and Grandpa think that I earned my pardon rather quickly, but I’ve really been gone for a long time.

"Daddy hasn’t come round to see you, has he? He’s probably off saving worlds and seeing the stars. You’ll see him soon enough, I think. Do you remember him? He brought you your first bouquet of flowers on the day you were born. He fell in love with you the moment he saw you -well, he loved you before that, but I think at that moment you had him wrapped around your finger.” She picked up Haven’s hand and caressed it gently with her thumb. “The Doctor can’t say no to a beautiful girl like you; he’d fly the entire universe over to find you the blade of grass you want.”

Haven finished eating then, and gave her mum a small sleepy smile. River smiled brightly in response and shifted Haven in her arms to kiss her cheek and hold her up against her shoulder again. They rocked in silence for a while as River stroked Haven’s back and the baby started to become more and more awake. River felt a tiny hand reach out and grab at a ringlet, and experimentally tug them toward her. As she was moving a fistful of hair toward her mouth, River took hold of it, kissed Haven’s hand, and freed her hair. “Shall we go downstairs and see Amy and Rory?” she asked as she rubbed her daughter’s back and got to her feet, “We can see what sort of terrifying thing your Gran is attempting to make.”


	11. Eleven

Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, and soon Haven was celebrating her first birthday.

Uncle Jack spoiled her with presents from different centuries, and ice cream from Calandara’s.

True to River’s prediction, Amy had gotten better at cooking, and had made the cake. Rory proudly carried it out, and called everyone to a toast with paper cups filled with apple juice, “Ahem! May take attention away from the Birthday Girl for just a moment to talk about the cake Amy made _and_ decorated? The stuff of legend. My brilliant wife, well done!” He kissed her full on the lips, and Jack waved his cup through the air.

“Hey now, this is a kid’s show. Save it for the after party, you two!” he teased as River laughed, “The only acceptable kisses at this party are from Miss Haven herself. Lay one on me, beautiful.” He pointed to his cheek and leaned down so Haven could give him a kiss on his cheek from where she sat on his lap. He fanned at his face in overacted delight, “I’ll never wash this cheek again.” He sighed dramatically as he picked up Haven and passed her to River so they could sing to her.

She caught on quick enough, and with a little help from her mother, garnered a big applause from the crowd as she blew out the candle. Just as River was picking up the knife to cut a slice for Haven, the little girl dove her hand right into the cake, and brought a frosting covered hand to her face where she left a trail from nose to chin.

“Good thing that wasn’t my best work so far.” Amy said as Haven attempted another swipe before River caught hold of her wrist.

She kissed the side of her head and smiled as Haven giggled up at her, “Good thing you only get to do this once.” Amy cut a piece and placed it in front of her granddaughter, “Alright, go on and make a mess.” River sighed and watched her daughter delightedly feed herself cake.

The afternoon was beautiful. After River cleaned frosting off her daughter, and herself, Haven toddled around the house with Jack and Rory. Amy and River sat in the kitchen and had coffee.

“Well, how are you feeling, Mum? A year ago you were holding her for the first time.” Amy said over the top of her cup.

“It feels like yesterday. And ages ago.” She smiled when she heard a peal of laughter from the next room.

“You know what I think about sometimes?” Amy asked after a moment.

“What’s that?”

“When we were in Utah, I was pregnant with you, and you were pregnant with Haven. It's sort of funny." she took a sip of her coffee. "Only our lives.”

River smiled and looked at Amy and debated asking a question that had been on her mind a while, “Do you think you’ll have more children?”

Amy’s face fell slightly, “I haven’t thought too much about it, really. That's not to say I don’t want more children -and Rory loves kids. But,” she sighed, “I guess part of me is hoping the Doctor will show up with my baby and I’ll get to raise her.” She put down her coffee cup, “But as much as it would be nice for us to change what’s happened, I know I can’t.”

“There are some times that shouldn’t be rewritten no matter how much you would like them to be. I am who I am because you did raise me... in a way. I know it’s not the same, though -I know that now more than ever.”

“So the short answer is no thought of kids at the moment. Who knows where things will be later, but right now Rory’s the only one with a steady job, and we have Haven who needs to be loved and spoiled.”

“She’s certainly a lucky little girl.”

Rory came into the kitchen with Haven sitting on his shoulders, “She and Jack have so much energy. Let me have a sip.” He leaned down so Amy could help him sip from her cup. He made a face, “Black coffee.”

“It does the trick, though, doesn’t it?” she asked as Haven let out a shriek as Rory swung her off his shoulders and held her in his arms.

“Tell Gran it wouldn’t hurt to put a little milk in her coffee.”

“No, Papa!” Amy laughed and took Haven from his arms and sat her on her lap.

“That’s my girl, defending her Gran!” River smiled and took a sip of her own coffee -she didn’t like the bitter taste of black coffee like Amy, but she didn’t put any sugar in after the milk.

Jack strolled in, taking a mug and the coffee pot and pouring himself a cup. When Rory pushed the milk towards him, he shook his head and reached into his coat pocked to pull out a flask which he poured in.

“Jack!” River admonished playfully, “What was it you said about saving adult behavior for the after party?”

“I stepped on one of her blocks the other room. It’s medicinal.”

...

Soon after Haven’s first birthday River started thinking about where and when she would start working. Her life was hers once again, yet she felt at a loss for where to take it. Amy and Rory had insisted she stay with them for as long as she wanted. Amy was in and out of jobs, booking modeling gigs on the side, while Rory worked his way up at the hospital.

The holidays were upon them quickly, and River resolved to start pounding the pavement for a work opportunity once the new year began. Christmas was small yet eventful. Haven had been a tiny baby last year, and this time she was able to open presents and partake in the turkey dinner.

Amy donned a ridiculous jumper, and forced Rory into one of his own that he scratched at all afternoon. River had flat out refused, and Haven had gotten hers off about a quarter of an hour after Amy had wrestled her into it. The clever girl had hidden it, and after several minutes of searching Amy gave up.

For the second year in a row, Amy had insisted they put a place setting out for the Doctor.

“He’ll show up! We’re his family!” River and Rory were skeptical, but they humored her.

Just after they had settled down to tuck in, the doorbell rang.

“Carolers.” Amy scowled as she reached for the water pistol she had filled up for this occasion. Their street seemed to be a hot spot for carolers. It was sweet the first time, but after numerous rounds of 'Here We Come a Wassailing', Amy had vowed to soak every last singer who came to their door. “If that is more carol singers I have a water pistol! You don’t want to be all wet on a night like this...” River and Rory turned when her voice trailed off mid sentence.

“Is that the Doctor?” Rory asked as River slid a few pieces of cut up turkey onto the tray of Haven’s high chair.

“It sounds like him.” River said breathlessly as Amy’s laughter rang through the air. It did, indeed, sound like him. She panicked briefly, wondering what would happen if this was a younger Doctor. Then again, he wouldn’t show up on an older Amy and Rory’s doorstep if he was, would he?

“Mr. Pond, guess who’s coming for dinner!” Amy called from the hallway, and Rory quickly got up and went to her. River let out a quick breath and looked down at Haven who was choosing a piece of turkey with great concentration.

“How does Mummy look, darling?” she asked the toddler as she fluffed up her hair and picked up her spoon to take in her appearance.

“Pretty Mumma!” Haven said before feeding herself.

“Thank you, darling.” she leaned in to give her a kiss, right as Amy and Rory walked into the room.

“It’s the Doctor,” Amy began excitedly, “he’s going to be joining us for dinner! Where’d he go?” she asked as she looked back out into the hallway and saw the Doctor closing the door. “What’s taking you so long?”

“Sorry, thought I left something in the TARDIS.” He stopped in his tracks as he walked into the room and saw River sitting at the table. “River!”

“Hello, sweetie.” she said as she got to her feet.

“Rory, would you help me in the kitchen? We forgot to put that thing out.” Amy grabbed his arm and ushered him past the two of them to allow them privacy.

“You told them I was alive.” he said after several moments gazing at each other.

“What else could I do? Amy was distraught.”

“No, I’m glad you did. I didn’t think how my staged death could affect my friends.”

“I know, my love.”

“So where are we now?” His eyes trailed down to the bracelet he’d given her, “When’s the last time I saw you?”

“The night before I went back to Stormcage.”

His mouth went dry, “And how long ago was that? How old is Haven?”

“Seventeen months old.” They stood for a moment longer and then crossed the room to pull into a tight embrace.

He held her for a long time and then whispered, “Happy Christmas.” into her ear.

She smiled and said, “Same to you.”

“Mumma!” Haven called, pulling River’s attention away from the Doctor.

“Haven,” River took the small fork out of Haven’s hand and picked her up out of her high chair, “there’s someone here to see you.” The Doctor’s face split in a wide smile as he looked at his daughter. She had big green eyes like her mother, delicate features, and soft dark brown curls secured back off her face in a small red clip in the shape of a bow.

Haven smiled brightly, “Dada.” He felt as though his hearts would explode.

River carried Haven closer, and was delighted when the small girl reached for her father. The Doctor took her in his arms and hugged her tight to him. There were so many humany-wumany feelings today: first tears of happiness in the hallway after he’d seen Amy and Rory, and now more flooded his eyes as he held his daughter so tightly one would have thought she would evaporate into thin air.

“Hello, my beautiful girl.” He smoothed his hand down soft hair the color of his, and kissed her cheek. He held Haven for a long while before opening his eyes and looking at River, who was smiling brightly at the two of them. “I can’t believe how big she is. Is she talking much?”

“It depends on her mood. She knows more words than a human child her age.”

The Doctor looked at Haven, “Of course she does! She’s brilliant, aren’t you?” He bounced Haven on his hip and she laughed. “How are you, my dear?” he asked River.

“I’m doing well. We’ve been staying here with Amy and Rory for a while.”

“Living with the parents? What did they say about boys in your room?” He gave her a mischievous smirk, which quickly dissolved into a wide eyed gasp as Haven took hold of his bow tie and pulled sharply. “No, no that’s -that’s not what that’s for.” River smiled and smoothed her hand down Haven’s back. “Easy on the bow tie, lady!”

“Behave yourself, and maybe she will, too.”

“Not a chance.” he said before leaning down and capturing River’s lips in a kiss. She’d almost forgotten how wonderful it felt to kiss him after so long. Being a mum had occupied so much of her time and mind until now. “How come you and Rory aren’t wearing Christmas jumpers?” he asked as he let his eyes roam over her chocolate colored boots, jodhpurs, and long creme colored jumper sans reindeer.

“It’s crap! River didn’t even try to humor her Mum and wear it for a little while. Rory conveniently spilled red wine on his -not on his dress shirt or anything around him though, isn’t that interesting?” Amy answered as she and Rory came back from the kitchen carrying another bottle of wine.

“And what about my little girl?” The Doctor played with the hem of her white tutu with red trim. “Not that you don’t look lovely in your Christmas dress.”

“Like mother, like daughter. She hid hers!” Amy sat in her chair and helped herself to a roll. “I’m the only one who wants to honor the Christmas spirit. Unless you want one, Doctor.”

“Yes!” the Doctor happily exclaimed, as River said, “No!”

...

Amy and Rory insisted that the Doctor stay the night to spend time with his wife and daughter. After dinner, they moved to the living room to watch Christmas specials on television, drink hot chocolate, and chat about everything and nothing. It wasn’t until Haven began to doze off on River’s lap that Amy and Rory excused themselves to start cleaning up, and left River and the Doctor on the couch.

“I think it’s time for bed, little one.” River kissed the top of her daughters head, and cuddled her as she rubbed at her eyes. Haven turned in her arms and laid her head on River’s chest. River rubbed Haven's back and looked at the Doctor who was watching the two of them with fondness.

“Will you let me help you put her to bed?”

“Of course.” she carefully stood and the two made their way up to Haven’s room.

...

“Wow. Look at this!” He stooped to look through the rows of books, and the basket full of stuffed animals. “This is a great room.” He said as he picked up a picture of River holding a newborn Haven, then saw a picture of himself and River next to it. They were holding hands and looking at each other with a pretty view in front of them. “I didn’t know we had any pictures together.” he said, causing River to look back from changing Haven into her pajamas.

“Rory took that without us knowing. I don’t think I’ve lived that moment yet, to be honest. I’ve got another copy you can have.”

“I’d love that. This one as well, please.” He pointed to the first picture of his wife and daughter together.

“There we are.” River picked the sleepy girl up off the changing table and smiled as she wrapped small arms around her mothers neck and held onto her.

“No.” Haven whined quietly, her small voice muffled against River’s collarbone.

“You don’t want to go to bed?”

“No, Mumma.” Even though the little girl protested, the Doctor could hear the exhaustion she was trying hard to fight off.

“Why don’t you sit with Daddy for a bit? You don’t have to sleep just yet.” She gestured to the rocking chair behind the Doctor and he silently sat so he could take Haven. She sat their daughter down, and smoothed her hand over her hair. She quickly leaned in to press a kiss to the Doctors lips and quietly said, “She should be out soon.”

The Doctor nodded and looked down at Haven as she fought hard to keep awake. He smiled as she dozed and startled herself when her head drooped. “Did you have a lovely Christmas, Haven?” She smiled sleepily and then a horrible feeling spread through the Doctor -he hadn’t brought her a Christmas present. He glanced up and noticed River had left the room. He’d bring it up to her later.

“Yes.” She turned and tucked her head under his chin. “Dada?”

“Yes, love?” she murmured something against his chest that he didn't catch. “What’s that?” She said it again and he guessed she was babbling tiredly, so he kissed her head and rocked them in the chair until she fell asleep. The Doctor lifted her and laid her in her crib, and found himself staring at her the way he had when she had been a newborn.

When he finally turned around, he saw River smiling at him in the doorway, dressed now in a silky robe. She gave Haven a fond smile as the Doctor walked over to her, shut off the bedroom light, and led her husband out. Once she’d shut the door, she turned and wrapped her arms around the Doctor and pulled him to meet her in a smoldering kiss. He pushed her back against the wall and kissed her back, hands snaking up to her waist. “I hope you’ll stay the night.” she breathed.

“Where else would I spend Christmas than with my family?” he replied. She smiled and pulled him in for another kiss.


	12. Twelve

River was happily dreaming, sleeping off Christmas turkey, and a few glasses of wine. She woke when she felt the Doctor roll over, wind an arm around her waist, and place kisses on her neck. She sighed sleepily and turned herself in his arms.

“Are you awake?” he whispered. “River?”

“Mmm, what is it?” he lightly trailed his fingertips up the bare skin of her back, following the curve of her spine like a map. “You can’t be serious...” she said thickly against his neck. “I fell asleep a few hours ago. Haven could get up at any moment.”

“Let’s make it count, then.”

She groaned and stilled the hand caressing her hip. “But right now?”

“Can’t a man want to be with his wife when he hasn’t seen her in a long time?”

“Can’t a woman sleep peacefully until her seventeen-month-old daughter needs her attention all day?”

“I’ll take her, and you can sleep.”

“ _Sweetie._ ”

“I want to make the most of this River/Doctor time we’ve got right now.”

She opened her eyes now and a soft smile crossed her lips. “I’ve missed you, too. And I do need some more Doctor/River time, but also sleep.” she let the last word drag out wistfully. 

The Doctor cradled her head back into the crook of his neck and stroked her hair. Neither spoke for a while, and he wondered if perhaps she had fallen back to sleep, “Will you come with me in the TARDIS? Please?”

She picked up her head and looked at her bedside clock which told her it was 5:27 in the morning. “Now?”

“I’d love to have you and Haven with me. What do you think? Show her the stars?”

She laughed lightly, “Without parental supervision?”

He squeezed her hip, “Just the three of us. Plese?” She didn’t reply, “Come on, you know you fly the TARDIS better than I do. You can make sure we’re back in time for breakfast.”

“I’ll have to pack some things for Haven.”

The Doctor smiled brightly in the darkened room and sat up before flicking on her bedside lamp, making Rive scowl. “Go get some things for her, and I’ll meet you in the TARDIS. I didn’t think this far ahead, so I’m going to quickly tinker with the old girl and make sure Haven can't wander off and find rooms that aren’t child safe."

...

She met him in the TARDIS quarter of an hour later, with two bags slung over her shoulder, and her sleeping daughter wrapped in a blanket in her arms.

“Didn’t wake her?” he beamed as the pair walked into the console room.

“No, she's a heavy sleeper.”

“I made her a room.”

He lead the way down a corridor and pushed open a door that lead into a room perfectly fit for a little girl. River smiled at the periwinkle blue walls and made her way over to put Haven in the crib. “No pink?”

“Nah, didn’t think Haven would like that. Like mother like daughter, I assumed you didn’t put her in much pink.”

“I don’t. Amy loves putting her in frilly things, though -her Christmas dress was a fine example.”

His mouth twitched into a smile, and he took Haven’t bags from River. “You can unpack her things later. I woke you up after a Christmas dinner, I’m sure you want to go back to bed.”

“I wouldn’t be so tired if someone hadn’t kept me up so late.” she smiled coyly and took his hand.

“I have to do a few things first, but I’ll be in later. Promise.” He kissed her hand and slid this thumb over her knuckles.

“Alright then.” She studied his face for another moment, and gave her daughter one last look before leaving the room.

 ...

The Doctor stood in the doorway watching River's deep even breathing for several long moments before slowly walking towards the bed and sitting down on the edge. He was toeing off his shoes and taking off is tweed jacket, when he heard quiet cries floating across the hallway.

He opened the door to Haven’s room and saw her standing and wiping tears from her eyes, while quietly whimpering, 'Mumma'. She sniffed and held her arms out when she saw the Doctor, “Dada.”

“It’s okay, Haven, I’m here.” He picked her up and out of the crib and cuddled her close to him.

He hadn’t felt such a strong psychic connection in a very long time. She reached out to him, and he understood she’d woken up in a different room than she’d fallen asleep in, not known where River was, and had panicked. She felt comforted in the Doctor’s arms, and rested her head on his shoulder, curling a little fist around his bow tie. He sighed and looked at her face, “You're just like your mother, aren't you? It’s _cool_.” She looked up at him with green eyes that were so like River’s and he smiled down at her. “Shall we go have a look around the TARDIS?”

... 

River woke up, looked around her room, and smiled. She stretched and rolled over to reach for the Doctor, only to find his tweed jacket laying on the bed. Frowning, she looked around, but there was no sign of him. She pulled the jacket on over her t-shirt and went to Haven’s room. She saw her crib was empty, so she headed for the console room, hoping to find the Doctor and their daughter.

She smiled and hung back in the hallway to watch the pair. Haven was toddling around behind the Doctor as he chattered on to her about the wonders of the universe. He spun dramatically as he flipped a lever. Haven tried to mimic him, and slipped on the glass floor. The Doctor scooped her up in his arms, and held her on his hip. “That's okay, I’ve slipped and fallen many times on this floor. You’ll get the hang of it!” He kissed her head as he flipped another switch. “When you’re older I’ll teach you how to fly her. Well, Mummy really should teach you how, since she’s a much better pilot, but _never_ tell her I said that.” Haven brought a finger to her smiling lips to shush the Doctor and pointed over his shoulder at River making her way down the steps.

“Mumma heard.” she raised her eyebrows and looked at him, and the face was so like River’s that he laughed.

“When you’re caught, you’re caught.” he grinned. “Nice jacket, by the way.” He glanced up and down her body, which looked endearingly small and delicate in his tweed coat.

“Thank you, sweetie.”

“Well it’s not really complete without the bow tie, is it, but to each their own.” She smiled and reached out to pull him toward her with that ridiculous bow tie, and kiss him. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” she said before giving Haven a kiss. “What have you two been up to?”

“We shared a banana, took a quick tour of the TARDIS, and we have just landed on a particularly lovely planet where there are big grassy meadows with grass that sparkle in nice smelling breeze; there are paths for walks, warm waterfalls, and all sorts of lovely things. I thought it would be the perfect place to take Haven for her first planet.”

“What do you think, darling?” River asked, “Should we change out of our pajamas and go see a planet?” Haven smiled and looked at the Doctor.

He laughed when she nodded, “That’s my girl! Let’s go and start our journey through this massive and amazing universe! Geronimo!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My, my! I've been writing this for a little over a year now, and this is where I intended to end the story. Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate all the love for this piece! xxx


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